Quantum properties of water

Turning water into ice in the quantum realm
Researchers from the University of Colorado and the University of Toronto made water molecules undergo transitions between “dynamical phases” — essentially, jumping between two states in which the atoms behave in completely different ways.
“This happens abruptly, and it resembles the phase transitions we see in systems like water becoming ice. But unlike that tray of ice cubes in the freezer, these phases don’t exist in equilibrium. Instead, atoms are constantly shifting and evolving over time.”
[link to medium.com (secure)]

Quantum tunnelling in water confirmed - a phenomenon first predicted by British theoretical physicist Ronald Gurney in 1931.
Quantum tunnelling is critical to nuclear fusion, and is the basis of the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM).
They determined that electrons tunnelling to and from ions near the electrodes accounted for the greater part of the current.
“A better understanding of electrolysis is becoming more important for applications in alternative energies in what is sometimes called the ‘hydrogen economy’.”
[link to cosmosmagazine.com (secure)]

The quantum tunneling of water occurs when water molecules in nanochannels exhibit quantum tunneling behavior.
The quantum tunneling of water occurs under ultraconfinement in rocks, soil and cell walls. The phenomenon is predicted to help scientists better understand the thermodynamic properties and behavior of water in confined environments such as water diffusion, transport in the channels of cell membranes and in carbon nanotubes.
[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)]

A new quantum state of water found in carbon nanotubes at room temperature could have important implications for life. When confined on the nanometre scale, it forms into an entirely new type of quantum water. And when that happens, the electronic structure of liquid water becomes a connected network.
It turns out that the protons in this nano-confined water at room temperature behave in an entirely different way to those in bulk water.
“The departures of the momentum distribution of the protons from that of bulk water are so large, that we believe that the nano-confifined water can be properly described as being in a qualitatively different quantum ground state from that of bulk water”
Reiter and co chose carbon nanotubes because they are an analogue of the conditions water faces when passing through living systems, through ion channels in cell membranes, for example. Biologists have long known that flow through these channels is orders of magnitude greater than conventional fluid dynamics predicts.
The implication, of course, is that the proton exchange membranes used in everything from chemical production to fuel cells could be dramatically improved by using a neutral carbon-based material.
In fact, this phenomenon may be a crucial factor in the very mechanism of life itself.
[link to www.technologyreview.com (secure)]

this reminds me of the 4th state of water which occurs just in between waters liquid and solid state.


The water itself becomes incredibly dielectric and exhibits properties not seen in liquid water nor ice.


Could this be related?

Para-H2O does not interact with an external magnetic field, but ortho-H2O does. The differences in the properties of these two forms of water are expected to be greater in an electric field, which may be imposed externally, from surfaces or from water clustering itself. Many materials preferentially adsorb para-H2O.
Ortho-H2O and para-H2O form separate hydrogen-bonded clusters with para-H2O being preferred in the low-density tetrahedrally coordinated clusters and ortho-H2O being preferred in the high-density clusters.
[link to www1.lsbu.ac.uk]

Probably. For instance, para-H2O does not interact with an external magnetic field while ortho-H2O does.

Para-water has similarities with alkaline water

Water molecules come in clusters rather than single molecules. Tap water which is under pressure has very large clusters of 12-14 molecules. The ionization process breaks the electrical bonding of water molecules and restructures the alkaline water down to about 5-6 molecules per cluster. This smaller cluster size means that the water can be more easily absorbed into the cells, thereby providing superior hydration for the body and helping to dissolve and flush out acidic solid waste and toxins that have accumulated in the body.
[link to www.aquahealthproducts.com (secure)]

Bump for later read

I was going to do a water thread on memory etc. soon

Water molecules characterize the structure of DNA genetic material

The DNA's double helix never occurs in isolation; instead, its entire surface is always covered by water molecules which attach themselves with the help of hydrogen bonds. But the DNA does not bind all molecules the same way if the water content is low. When the water sheath swells, these differences are adjusted and all hydrogen bonds become equally strong.
"The precise DNA structure depends on the specific amount of water surrounding the molecule"
Increasing the hydration shell by only two water molecules per phosphate group may cause the DNA structure to "fold" instantly. Such water dependent switching processes might be able to control, for example, the release of active agents from DNA-based materials.
[link to www.sciencedaily.com (secure)]

[link to godlike.com (secure)]

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have disproved the prevailing theory of how DNA binds itself. Instead, water is the key. The secret to DNA's helical structure may be that the molecules have a hydrophobic interior, in an environment consisting mainly of water. The environment is therefore hydrophilic, while the DNA molecules' nitrogen bases are hydrophobic, pushing away the surrounding water. When hydrophobic units are in a hydrophilic environment, they group together to minimize their exposure to the water.
[link to phys.org (secure)]

This ^ property explains why DNA can suvive long after death, in bones that have no water content anymore.

humans are made up of a lot of water