Under the name of medium density amorphous ice (MDA), scientists created an extraterrestrial ice that is fluid like water, but at -200 °C.
This type of ice is very common in outer space, because the environment does not provide enough thermal energy to crystallize, but it does not exist on Earth naturally.
researchers of the University College London and the University of Cambridge they created it, using a ball mill. With it, they centrifuged conventional ice with steel balls at a temperature of -200 °C.
Thanks to this, they obtained the new material, instead of remains of crushed ice.
Alexander Rosu-Finsen, Michael Davies, Alfred Amon and other researchers worked on the study, published in the journal Science under the title Amorphous ice of medium density.
“The distinctive density and structure helped identify it as a new form of ice, opening questions about the stable amorphous structure of this important material”, the scientists point out in their work.
Alien ice and its great difference with that of Earth
On our planet, When water freezes, it crystallizes and its molecules are organized into the solid hexagonal structure called ice.
Ice is less dense than its liquid form, which is an unusual property for a crystal. But how do you explain Nature, depending on conditions such as pressure and freezing rate, the water can also solidify in any of the other two dozen regular arrangements.
“Amorphous ice is different: it has no such order,” points out the specialized portal, since many of their molecules stick together randomly.
The London and Cambridge team used a ball mill to grind crystallized ice. This type of mill is generally used to grind or mix materials in mineral processing.
Using a container with metal balls inside, the researchers shook a small amount of ice about 20 times per second. According to Christoph Salzmann, another of the study’s authors, the metal balls produced a “shear force” on the ice, breaking it down into a white powder.
[ Aquí puedes ver cómo se hizo el hielo amorfo extraterrestre (YouTube) ]
X-rays were also shot at it, in order to generate the process known as X-ray diffraction. Finally, ice had a molecular density similar to that of liquid water, with no apparent ordered structure in the molecules: its crystallinity was destroyed.
The research will serve not only to learn more about the water, but also to try to understand other planets, like Jupiter and Saturn.
