Scientists find molecular-level evidence for two structures in liquid water

le-mark•40 minutes ago

Somewhat related is the hydration shell around molecules especially proteins. It’s been shown that semi structured water around proteins help guide molecules to reaction sites. Water is an amazing thing!

VladVladikoff•about 1 hour ago

>The boundary between them is thought to terminate at a "second critical point." This deeply supercooled region is so hard to study experimentally because water crystallizes rapidly

This sounds like the type of thing that could be used for some future technology that doesn’t exist yet and I can’t comprehend. Some sort of process that takes advantage of being in this second critical state.

wglb•about 2 hours ago

Study published in Nature Physics: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-026-03301-8

mefistofeles•14 minutes ago

Sadly paper is behind paywall. But I question the choosing of the water model to be a 4-site, and why that specific 4-site one (TIP4P) instead of others that have shown to be more accurate such as OPC. Also, there seem to be previous experimental work (https://arxiv.org/abs/1304.2877) showing some evidence that apparently is not even referenced in this new paper. I wonder how does that compare, if at all.

boothby•8 minutes ago

So if liquid water is really a mixture of water and water, is it safe to say that this paper establishes that water is wet?

harimau777•about 1 hour ago

It would be hilarious if homeopathy turned out to be right!

(To be clear, I don't think that will actually happen, but it would be hilarious if it did!)

hyperhello•44 minutes ago

Homeopathic medicine is already recommended by 1 out of 1000000000000000000 doctors.

etchalon•14 minutes ago

Stealing this forever.

OutOfHere•24 minutes ago

There is no basis to suggest that any product uses this property of water. As for homeopathy, it isn't one thing. The effects, if any, can vary greatly by the substance and the concentration. Some low-dilution products work and many high-dilution products don't. There is such a thing as excessive dilution. Anyone who is painting a simpler picture of it is almost certainly wrong.

potatosalad99•about 1 hour ago

So the OTA firmware updates on my dehumidifier for when they discover a new kind of water will come in handy after all!

felooboolooomba•33 minutes ago

Nah, IFIFY: So the OTA firmware updates on my dehumidifier is for when they make a new kind of dehumidifier that they want me to buy!

cwmoore•35 minutes ago

Great to see progress on ice-9 /s

appreciatorBus•26 minutes ago

Careful! Talking about a naturally occurring binary is going to attract the attention of Critical Theory believers!

Before you know it they are going to use the Power of Discourse(tm) to gin up a whole new discipline devoted to advocating for the idea that water molecules exist on a spectrum…

Scientists find molecular-level evidence for two structures in liquid water

⚡ Community Insights

Discussion (13 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews