• Safwan AMM
• 24 September, 2025

Scientists Discover Water’s Secret State – Both Solid and Liquid at Once

Water is something we use every day – to drink, cook, wash, and even cool down on a hot Colombo afternoon. But scientists keep proving that this simple liquid still hides powerful secrets. Recently, a Japanese research team made a discovery that feels almost magical: water can exist in a hidden “premelting state” where it is both solid and liquid at the same time.

What does that mean in real life?

Imagine keeping a bottle of ice in your freezer. Normally, ice is hard and stiff. But now think of a moment when that ice begins to melt – it looks solid, but inside, it has started behaving like liquid. That “in-between” stage is very close to what scientists have captured – only at the nano-scale, inside tiny spaces smaller than a virus.

This is important because in the natural world, water often flows through ultra-tiny spaces – inside plant roots, through protein channels in our body, or even inside minerals. Understanding this hidden water state helps explain how life manages critical tasks like transporting nutrients and energy.

The science made simple

• The researchers trapped heavy water (D₂O) inside a crystal with nano-sized channels (about 1.6 nanometers wide).
• Using advanced NMR technology, they could “listen” to how water molecules were moving.
• The surprising part: molecules stayed in place like a solid, but rotated quickly like a liquid.

In short, water was frozen in position but free in motion – a brand-new phase of matter!

Why should Sri Lankan innovators care?

This discovery is not just for textbooks – it can inspire industries:

• Energy storage: By controlling how water freezes, we could store gases like hydrogen or methane safely, creating new green energy solutions.
• Health and medicine: Understanding how water flows through proteins could improve drug delivery systems.
• Agriculture: Just like water movement in plant roots, insights here may help in designing smarter irrigation or nano-fertilizers.

Think of it like discovering a new spice in our kitchen that could change how we cook, preserve, and even power our homes.

Entrepreneurial lesson

As entrepreneurs, we often think we already know the basics. But just like water, the most common things can still surprise us. Innovation comes from looking deeper into the ordinary – whether it’s tea leaves, coconut husks, or even water itself.

This discovery reminds us that hidden opportunities exist in everyday resources, waiting for someone with vision to unlock them.