00:03The water records of Uranus and Neptune may hold an odd substance that's somewhere between a solid and a liquid.
00:11Researchers used computer models to build the ice giant planet's interiors,
00:17shedding light on their current structure and past evolution.
00:20The simulations analyzed their thermal and electrical conductivity on an atomic scale.
00:26They found the ice inside Uranus and Neptune's cores is unlike anything we've seen on Earth, saying,
00:32In such exotic physical conditions, we cannot think of ice as we are used to.
00:37At the heart of Uranus and Neptune may be a weird super ionic water.
00:42This substance has oxygen atoms locked in a crystalline lattice, while hydrogen atoms bounce around freely like a charged liquid.
00:50Researchers say the water's electrical conductivity is higher than they initially thought,
00:56and believe the peculiar ice cores could have a big effect on the planet's magnetic fields.
01:01The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
01:04The 2018 End
01:05www.agnear.com
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