Red Dwarf, High-Pressure Water World
A little off-topic, but still really cool. Nature is reporting that researchers have found an exoplanet around a red dwarf that they believe is covered with water and ice VII. These results were reported by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
The planet is the smallest and most Earth-like exoplanet found so far. It's larger than Earth, with high atmospheric pressure greater than 16 Bar, meaning that even though the surface temperature is about 200C, liquid water would exist at the surface. As would (and here is the materials science angle) exotic crystal forms, like the aforementioned ice VII.
Also, of course, where there is liquid water, there is the medium for life...
The planet is the smallest and most Earth-like exoplanet found so far. It's larger than Earth, with high atmospheric pressure greater than 16 Bar, meaning that even though the surface temperature is about 200C, liquid water would exist at the surface. As would (and here is the materials science angle) exotic crystal forms, like the aforementioned ice VII.
Also, of course, where there is liquid water, there is the medium for life...
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