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fromwww.npr.org
2 weeks agoIn the snow, these salamanders get supercool
Blue-spotted salamanders can remain active while supercooled with body temperatures below the freezing point of body fluids.
Researchers call this new type of material a 'corralled supercooled liquid'. Atoms in a liquid are normally like people in a busy crowd, constantly jostling and pushing past one another. However, scientists have now found a way to freeze some of these atoms in place, creating an immobile 'corral' that keeps the mobile liquid atoms trapped inside. Once the liquid is trapped inside a ring, its behaviour becomes different to any known form of matter.