{"id":229463,"date":"2026-01-21T01:39:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/bridging-theories-across-physics-helps-reconcile-controversy-about-thin-liquid-layer-on-icy-surfaces"},"modified":"2026-01-21T01:39:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:39:54","slug":"bridging-theories-across-physics-helps-reconcile-controversy-about-thin-liquid-layer-on-icy-surfaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/bridging-theories-across-physics-helps-reconcile-controversy-about-thin-liquid-layer-on-icy-surfaces","title":{"rendered":"Bridging theories across physics helps reconcile controversy about thin liquid layer on icy surfaces"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/bridging-theories-across-physics-helps-reconcile-controversy-about-thin-liquid-layer-on-icy-surfaces2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The ice in a domestic freezer is remarkably different from the single crystals that form in snow clouds, or even those formed on a frozen pond. As temperatures drop, ice crystals can grow in a variety of shapes: from stocky hexagonal prisms to flat plates, to Grecian columns.<\/p>\n<p>Why this structural roller coaster happens, though, is a mystery. When first observed, researchers thought it must relate to a hypothesis proposed by famed physicist Michael Faraday\u2014ice below its melting point has a microscopically thin liquid layer of water across its surface.<\/p>\n<p>This \u201cpremelting film\u201d of ice, however, is the subject of significant scientific controversy. For years, researchers have provided contradictory evidence about its thickness and whether it even exists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ice in a domestic freezer is remarkably different from the single crystals that form in snow clouds, or even those formed on a frozen pond. As temperatures drop, ice crystals can grow in a variety of shapes: from stocky hexagonal prisms to flat plates, to Grecian columns. Why this structural roller coaster happens, though, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[219],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-physics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}