The weird science of ice

Electric insects

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11/28/22 Thank you for subscribing to The Cheat Sheet, from Science News Explores. If you like this newsletter, share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up for our weekly updates. Got questions, suggestions or comments? Email us at sns@sciencenews.org and put “The Cheat Sheet” in the subject line. We’d love to hear from you. Coming Soon Ice is such a familiar, everyday substance that you might think science has the stuff all figured out. But researchers are still learning some pretty strange things about plain old frozen water. For instance, did you know it’s possible to make hair-thin strands of ice that bend like cooked spaghetti? Or that some icicles freeze not into sharp spikes, but into gracefully curved bulbs like glassy ballet slippers? Tiny needles of ice even naturally sculpt stripes and swirls into pebbled landscapes like rocky crop circles.  Feeling inspired? You don’t need to wait for the next snow day to make your own icy artwork. Enjoy a cozy afternoon indoors this December making miniature ice castles out of cold water and salt.  P.S. — This is the last week to participate in our 5-minute survey about this newsletter. All respondents are eligible to win a free print issue of Science News Explores!  A New Magazine for Kids Learn more and subscribe to Science News Explores, a new magazine designed to satisfy young readers’ curiosity about how the world works.      SUBSCRIBE NOW   Catch up with the latest from Science News Explores Insect swarms might electrify the air as much as storm clouds do: Honeybees that flew over a voltage sensor sparked a new look at the effect of insects on electricity in the atmosphere. Readability: 7.9 Resources: power words, classroom questions, alternate version at Science News Explainer: What is a hydrogel?: These unusual materials have a host of unusual properties. You can even make a starch-infused version in your kitchen. Readability: 7.6 Resources: power words Protons may be stretchier than physicists had thought: Physicists looked at how the quarks that make up protons move in response to electric fields. And they found more movement than expected.  Readability: 7.9  Resources: power words, alternate version at Science News Scientists Say: Mean, median and mode: Mean, median and mode are all different ways to describe the middle value in a dataset. Readability: 6.0 Resources: power words, audio recording Technically Fiction In the Marvel universe, the element “vibranium” is almost its own superpower, giving Captain America’s shield its near-perfect strength and powering the futuristic African society of Wakanda. This precious element is only fantasy — but could we ever make something like it? Find out in the latest installment in our Technically Fiction column.    Find out more about the resources available for using Science News Explores stories for learning. And if you like this newsletter, please share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone share this with you? Subscribe to this newsletter here. If you’ve got questions, suggestions or comments, email us at sns@sciencenews.org. Thank you for reading! Privacy policy  |  Update Profile  | Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe This email was sent by: Society for Science 1719 N Street NW Washington, DC, 20036, US