Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif., recently snapped the first photos of nanometer-thick ice films taken by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). By capturing in detail how water molecules deposited on a cold solid surface (platinum in this case) aggregate into an ice film, the scientists are hoping to enhance understanding of how water and solids interact. Such basic knowledge might aid the design of better fuel cells and water purification membranes and help to decipher the complex processes in the earth's atmosphere leading to rain and snowfall.

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