Steady Drip of Progress

Water Wire. A thread of water a few molecules thick stretches between a mica surface and a sharp silicon point. Researchers will use the new arrangement to learn about water's behavior at the nanoscale. Image Credit:Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 187801 (2005)

It flows in rivulets, puddles in depressions, falls from the sky; you can even buy it at Costco--three-dimensional, "bulk" water is everywhere. Now, researchers are reporting a new configuration of a nearly one-dimensional column of water. Although similar forms of water are common in biology, they are rarely seen in the lab, so this liquid "nanowire" may soon reveal important properties of water at the molecular scale.

Text courtesy of Physical Review Focus.
Read more about this research at Physical Review Focus.