In the 1960s, scientists in the US and Russia independently discovered a new form of water that was 40 percent denser, didn’t solidify until 40 degrees below Celsius, and didn’t seem to boil no matter how much it was heated. They called it polywater, and its mysterious properties flummoxed researchers for years — until a California scientist figured out what they’d been missing all along.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.