Water Can Turn Into Metal Under Extreme Pressure
At pressures over 1.5 million times greater than Earth’s surface, water molecules lose their insulating electrons and begin conducting electricity like a metal. Physicists created this metallic water phase in 2021 by squeezing water between two diamonds while blasting it with X-rays. The discovery reveals new clues about the cores of ice giants like Uranus and Neptune.
💡 Fun detail:
The same process may explain why Neptune appears a shimmering blue: layers of metallic water could help generate the planet’s odd, tilted magnetic field.
Source: Nature Physics