Scientists Confirm a New ‘Mysterious’ Form of Water That May Exist on Alien Planets

Paris:In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have confirmed the existence of a fourth, mysterious form of water that could be present on distant planets. Known as Plastic Ice VII, this phase of water has long been theorized but had never been observed until now.

An international team of researchers at Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in France successfully created Plastic Ice VII under laboratory conditions by subjecting water to extreme heat and pressure. The study, published in the journal Nature, confirms what scientists had suspected for years: water can exist in a highly unusual state beyond the three commonly known phases—solid, liquid, and gas.

Breakthrough Experiment Confirms Theoretical Predictions

According to the research team, water was exposed to a pressure of 6 gigapascals—which is about 60,000 times the atmospheric pressure on Earth—and heated up to 327°C (620°F). Under these conditions, water formed a solid structure, but unlike ordinary ice, its hydrogen atoms remained highly dynamic, rotating within a rigid crystal framework.

To confirm the existence of this new phase, scientists used quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS), a technique that tracks the movement of tiny particles, including hydrogen atoms. This method helped prove a 17-year-old prediction that suggested hydrogen molecules inside Ice VII would exhibit unique rotational motion when subjected to extreme conditions.

Unique Properties of Plastic Ice VII

Plastic Ice VII is unlike any known form of water. It behaves both as a solid and a liquid, with a rigid structure but internally rotating hydrogen atoms. This unusual combination led scientists to describe it as a "plastic" phase of ice.

Physicist Maria Rescigno, one of the study’s authors, explained:
"QENS has given us an extraordinary opportunity to study how molecules behave under extreme conditions. The behavior of Plastic Ice VII is unlike anything we've seen before, making this a major breakthrough in our understanding of water’s properties."

Researchers noted that the new phase does not behave as previously expected. Earlier models had predicted that hydrogen molecules inside this ice would rotate freely, but the experiment revealed a different mechanism at play—one that remains under further investigation.

Could Plastic Ice VII Exist on Other Planets?

Scientists believe that this new form of water could be present deep within icy planets and moons across the solar system. The extreme conditions required for its formation are believed to exist on Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter’s moon Europa, suggesting that Plastic Ice VII may play a key role in the geodynamics of these celestial bodies.

"The discovery could help us understand how water behaves deep inside icy exoplanets and moons, influencing their evolution and structure," said an official involved in the study.

The discovery of Plastic Ice VII marks a new chapter in the study of water and planetary science. While much remains unknown—particularly how this exotic phase of ice transitions back into liquid—scientists believe the findings will reshape how we understand water’s behavior under extreme conditions.

Further research is expected to explore whether this phase of water could exist naturally on other planets, potentially offering new insights into the formation of celestial bodies in our solar system and beyond.

With increasing space exploration missions focusing on icy planets and moons, the study of Plastic Ice VII could be crucial in understanding extraterrestrial environments and the role of water in sustaining planetary systems.