Today in Science: Scientists create new, exotic ice

Did you know there are more than 20 kinds? ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

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February 24, 2026—Scientists create a new kind of ice, vibrant new images of Uranus and mathematicians make a breakthrough on curves.  —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS Multiple views of Uranus, as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRSpec instrument during a 15-hour period in late January 2025. ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, STScI, P. Tiranti, H. Melin, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb) New images of the planet Uranus snapped by the James Webb Space Telescope show its rosy auroras. | 3 min read  Crude crosses and dots carved into Stone Age ivory artifacts from some 40,000 years ago may be early forms of ancient written language. | 3 min read Earlier this month, Anthropic released its most powerful AI yet—autonomous agents. Meanwhile a mounting clash with the military reveals the impossible choice between global scaling of the technology and the company's "safety first" ethos. | 5 min read Caribou are the only deer whose females grow antlers. A new study pinpoints why. | 3 min read After her disastrous crash in Cortina, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn revealed she nearly lost her leg due to "compartment syndrome." Here's what it is. | 4 min read Mathematicians made a breakthrough on a 2,000-year-old problem of curves. | 4 min read Horses make their distinctive whinny sound by combining low and high pitch sounds together, in a way not seen in other animals​. | 2 min read More News Champion discovery and back independent science journalism with a subscription to Scientific American. We're running a great February deal. TOP STORIES Ice, Ice Baby Did you know there are different kinds of ice? Most of us interact with the stuff that naturally forms on Earth on roads, on ponds, and in our drinking glasses. Its water molecules have a hexagonal crystal structure, and so this variety is referred to by ice scientists as Ih (the h is for hexagonal). But scientists have made more than 20 crystalline forms of ice to date. The newest is ice XXI, a fleeting, blocky crystal structure that develops from supercompressed water. How it works: All ice is the same molecule: H2O. In every type of ice, the molecules interact, and different arrangements of hydrogen bonds can shape ice's crystalline structure into various configurations, from a hexagonal prism to a cubic lattice to less familiar lattice systems such as rhombohedral and tetragonal. So what dictates the arrangement of the bonds? Changes in temperature and pressure can force water molecules into dramatically different relations with one another.  A new ice: To force ice crystals into wild new shapes, scientists smash water with 3,000 times atmospheric pressure, for example, or cool it using potassium hydroxide to -330 degrees F (-200 degrees C). Since it existed so briefly after they super compressed it, the researchers could only observe ice XXI by using an extremely powerful x-ray free-electron laser that functions essentially like a high-speed camera. Amanda Montañez; Source: Water Structure and Science, by Martin Chaplin. Webpage archived from the original on February 11, 2025 (reference)

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PUZZLER Unscramble this puzzle of our June 1906 issue, if you can! The image shows a "magic sphere" in which a rotating parabolic floor would create interesting perceptual illusions. ​ ​ More Jigsaws Ice is something we take for granted—we encounter it everywhere without ever learning the fascinating chemistry behind it. I was reminded by a reader yesterday that snow is something we shouldn't take for granted either. Most of the Western U.S. is suffering a severe snow drought because of warm temperatures. Oregon, Colorado and Utah have reported their lowest statewide snowpack since the early 1980s, which is as far back as records go, according to the Associated Press. The drought isn't just bad for ski resorts and winter tourist spots; no snowpack means no snowmelt in spring and far less water flowing into streams, rivers and aquifers and dams during the rest of the year, affecting drinking water and agriculture. That might give those of us shoveling knee-deep snow this week a new perspective. Thanks for reading Today in Science! Send your comments, questions or feedback to: newsletters@sciam.com. We'll be back tomorrow.   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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