Ice-6
Here’s 6 H2O molecules stuck together in what’s the smallest possible crystal of ice. Or if you’re being cute about it, the smallest snowflake. Scientists were able to get the image using a scanning tunneling microscope to photograph a metallic surface at 5 degrees above absolute zero. They even had to turn down the microscope’s electron beam to the lowest setting, lest the individual electrons disturb the crystal.
The research will help explain how water can form on different surfaces, and how it interacts simultaneously with the atoms of the surface and the other water molecules. Plus it touches on the nucleation processes which create clouds and rain. The study is available here.
