A weird ice that may form on alien planets has finally been observed
High temperatures and extreme pressures create ice with properties of both crystalline ice and liquid water
Scientists have finally observed plastic ice (illustrated), a sort of hybrid phase between solid ice and liquid water that may form in the interiors of icy worlds like Neptune and Jupiter’s moon Europa. In plastic ice, the individual molecules are held in fixed positions within a crystal lattice, as if solid, while also being able to rotate, as if liquid.
Institut Laue-Langevin Communications Office