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Water seems very plain and simple. From the abundance of nature to our households, it’s everywhere. An essential need that most of us think we know so much about. However, scientists have found that water acts in strange ways under different circumstances. Do we really know how water works? Here are 5 Bizarre Facts about Water!

1. Instant Ice?
   

   We’ve all been taught that water needs to cool to 0 °C (32 °F) before it becomes ice. However, you can freeze water rapidly in seconds! This process is called Supercooling, where pure water is chilled past its freezing point.Scientist found out plenty about super cooling. Apparently ice crystals need anything from gas bubbles to impurities to start forming. These small particles are known as “nucleation points”. When triggered, the supercool water turns into ice.

   

2. Hot Water Freezes Faster than Cold Water
   

   This doesn’t make sense right? Shouldn’t it take longer for hot water to cooling, than already cooled water? It seems counterproductive, but hot water really does freezes before cold water in certain circumstances. It’s known as the “Mpemba Effect”, discovered by a Tanzanian high-schooler. In cooking class, Erasto B. Mpemba discovering hot ice cream mix froze quicker than cool ice cream mix.

   He was proven right after convincing a professor to conduct an experiment. This strange phenomenon is still unexplained by scientists. One of the possible theories is the effects of dissolved gasses between hot and cold water.

   

3. Human brain is Mostly Water
   

   The brain is made up of roughly 75% water. With billions of neurons firing every second and miles of blood vessels in the brain, it merely weighs 3 pounds. When we’re dehydrated, we are more prone to headaches and mood swings as our brain is signaling for more water. if the problem persists, you may feel increasingly tired throughout your day. Best to take care of the most important organ in your body by staying refreshed and hydrated!

   

4. Water or Glass?
   

   In school, we are familiar of the 3 stages of water. But there’s actually 5 different phases of water and more to be discovered. Water has so much potential and mysteries. After turning into ice, cooling it past -120 Celsius produces strange results: water becomes thick. That’s right, as viscous as honey. And past -135 Celsius, water turns “glass”. A clear solid with no crystal structure at all.

   

5. The Antarctic is Ancient
   

   The glaciers of Antarctic have been covered in ice for more than 30 million years. Right now, it’s land to 10 thousand trillion tons of snow and ice. Interestingly, 2.1% of the Earth’s water is trapped in polar ice caps and less than 1% is available as fresh water. With global warming, the vast amount of ice in the Antarctic is melting at break-neck speed. The Earth’s water levels have risen tremendously over the years of heat, green house gases and pollution. If the entire world’s water were to be spread out evenly across the surface, it would still be 3700 meters deep.