--- title: "Physicists Create Freakish New Type of Ice" description: "Scientists created a newly discovered type of ice that could help us better understand whether other planets have enough water to harbor life as we know it." date: "2022-03-24" modified: "2022-03-24" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/physicists-new-type-ice" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "crystalline structure" - "ice" - "the digest" - "water" --- # Physicists Create Freakish New Type of Ice ![Scientists created a newly discovered type of ice that could help us better understand whether other planets have enough water to harbor life as we know it.]() *\Image: Chris Higgins via UNLV\* ## Ice Man Cometh Science can do almost anything these days — including apparently creating a new type of ice. Which, for the record, is approximately the plot of [Kurt Vonnegut's 1971 novel]() "Cat's Cradle." A new paper [published in the *Physics Review B* journal]() details how scientists from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV) created a new type of frozen H2O molecule by putting a special form of ice called Ice VII under extremely high pressure, melting it with a laser, and then letting it refreeze. In short, the cubic structure of Ice VII was modified into a tetragonal crystalline structure — a seemingly small change that may have some vast implications on our understanding of where life can survive in the universe. https://twitter.com/d0rk0fy0rk/status/1505939817431023617 ## Hydro Homies Known as Ice-VIIt, this new tetragonal form of ice, [as *Gizmodo* notes](), isn't likely to occur naturally on the surface of our planet. Researchers theorize, however, that it *could* be commonly present within the Earth's mantle, as well as on water-rich exoplanets and far-flung moons outside our solar system. What's more, Ice VIIt transitions into [Ice X](), the phase at which ice stiffens aggressively at only a third of the pressure compared to what physicists previously thought to be necessary for Ice X to form, the researchers said in [a statement](). Surprisingly, this conclusion could force astronomers to reevaluate the habitability of previously discovered exoplanets. "If there are planets with a significant amount of water within their mantle, the planets would actually be bigger than we previously thought, since the water won’t compress," Zachary Grande, UNLV physicist and lead author, told *Gizmodo*. That means "astronomers will need to re-evaluate the water supply in many of the large exoplanets that have been discovered in recent years." You probably don't want this stuff cooling your whiskey on the rocks, but it's nonetheless extremely cool that making a new form of ice could help us one day find aliens — if there are any out there. **READ MORE:** [Physicists Defy Haters, Create Tetragonal Ice]() \[*Gizmodo*\] **More on weird ice:** *[Scientists Create Flexible Ice That Can Bend Like A Wire]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()