Spooky! Grooved surface sends ice sailing — no outside push needed

Blocks of crystal tin behave genuinely strangely. On immoderate surfaces, melting crystal needs nary extracurricular propulsion to skate — oregon adjacent seemingly slingshot itself around. How genuinely ghostly!

The uncovering comes from a elemental experiment. Its inspiration was the Racetrack Playa enigma successful Death Valley, Calif. There, boulders weighing arsenic overmuch arsenic 16.6 kilograms (36.6 pounds) seemingly dragged themselves hundreds of meters (yards) crossed a flat, adust lakebed.

Just similar these mysterious boulders that dragged themselves crossed Death Valley, crystal chunks successful a laboratory tin determination each by themselves too, scientists person present found.Buena Vista Images/Photodisc/Getty Images

In 2014, scientists traced the rocks’ travels to rainfall freezing beneath the stones. When it melted, airy breezes sent windowpane-thick sheets of crystal sailing on atop their ain meltwater. These toted the rocks with them. Some rocks sailed on at rates of 2 to 5 meters (6.6 to 16.4 feet) per minute!

Researchers astatine Virginia Tech successful Blacksburg wondered whether they could plan a aboveground to execute this aforesaid effect without wind.

The aboveground they’ve present engineered not lone makes this possible, but besides allows crystal chunks to slingshot themselves astatine speeds overmuch faster than the Death Valley boulders.

This was “a shocker,” says Jonathan Boreyko. “I was not expecting [it] astatine all.”

A mechanical engineer, Boreyko led the work. He and his colleagues debuted their caller aboveground August 27 successful ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. This chill subject mightiness 1 time beryllium utilized to de-ice vehicles oregon make electricity.

Playing around

Boreyko has a agelong past of looking into wacky h2o phenomena.

He’s studied however to support frost from forming connected scientific instruments successful precise acold environments. His laboratory besides has studied the Leidenfrost effect. That’s wherever a droplet of h2o levitates connected its ain vapor successful a super-hot environment. (You tin observe this effect close present — with supervision! Just sprinkle a fewer drops of h2o connected a precise blistery frying cookware and ticker the droplets dance.)

The Virginia Tech squad wasn’t expecting overmuch erstwhile it archetypal started investigating whether crystal could self-propel. They had thought “let’s conscionable beryllium kids astatine bosom and play around,” Boreyko recalls. Then they’d “see what happens.”

What started arsenic a amusive broadside task turned into a astonishing discovery. Researchers astatine Virginia Tech engineered a aboveground crossed which crystal volition slingshot itself &m...