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New 'Tunneling' State of Water Molecules Discovered by Scientists (inhabitat.com)
MikeChino quotes a report from Inhabitat: Scientists just discovered a new state of water molecules that displays some pretty unexpected characteristics. This discovery, made by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), reveals that water molecules "tunnel" in ultra-small hexagonal channels (measuring only 5 angstrom across) of the mineral beryl. Basically, this means the molecules spread out when they are trapped in confined spaces, taking a new shape entirely. The ORNL used neutron scattering and computational modeling to reveal the "tunneling" state of water that breaks the rules of known fundamentals seen in gas, liquid, or solid state. The researchers said the discovery describes the behavior of water molecules present in tightly confined areas such as cell walls, soils, and rocks. The study was published in Physical Review Letters on April 22.
Where is some kind of useful application for this? Anything? I'm listening.
I know I'm responding to a troll with this but: this is as far as I'm aware the first instance we've had even a hint of a way to make a channel which conducts whole atoms tunneling around in a circle while traveling along it (pretty much like a wire conducts electrons for electricity.) Will it be of use? Most likely there will at least be a niche device or two to come out of it, most interesting things at least have that. The really interesting thing will be to see what happens when you make it into a long tube and pump water through it, or into a coil shape and see what happens when you pump water through it. It might have microfluidic uses, it might have uses stemming from so much tunneling of things larger than electrons (which alone gave us the transistor for the computer you're using now.) It might be nothing other than an oddity people muse at. That's science, we poke things until they do things then figure out how to apply those things to do other things.
atoms weren't "observing" each other
Perhaps it's your observation that affects the outcome.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
EEP. Wrong. Professor Gerald Pollack has a series of pseudoscientific theories about how water reaches a new state on *almost all surfaces*. This theory is widely approved by sites such as mercola.com and other altie quick-cash-in sites.
There is 0 relation to this actual scientific discovery about how water changes to a new state "while restricted in a mineral beryl with hexagonal ultra-small channels that measures only 5 angstrom across".
Please Slashdot, +5 interesting?
Palladium has long been noted to be capable of absorbing large amounts of hydrogen:
https://www.technologyreview.c...