🧊 New research shows ice is slippery because of electrical charges — not pressure and friction.

For almost 200 years, the prevailing explanation for ice’s slipperiness was that friction or pressure from a skate, boot, or tire melted a microscopic film of water on the surface, creating a lubricating layer. A new study from Saarland University has overturned that long-standing idea.

Instead, the true cause lies in the electric fields generated by molecular dipoles. When any object contacts ice, the partial charges in its own molecules interact with the highly ordered dipole arrangement of water molecules in the ice crystal. This electrostatic tug-of-war loosens the topmost layer of the ice lattice, transforming it into a thin, disordered, quasi-liquid film—without any need for heat or significant pressure.

Remarkably, this self-lubrication mechanism works even at temperatures approaching absolute zero, where thermal energy is virtually absent and conventional pressure-melting or frictional heating theories completely break down. In those extreme conditions, ice remains slippery simply because its surface molecules are electrically vulnerable.

The discovery fundamentally rewrites our understanding of one of nature’s most familiar phenomena. Beyond settling a centuries-old debate, it has immediate practical implications: from designing better winter tires and non-slip surfaces that actually work on ice, to engineering superior skis, ice skates, and even advanced nanomaterials that perform reliably in cryogenic environments.

By revealing the dominant role of intermolecular electric forces, the research opens entirely new avenues for controlling friction and adhesion at the molecular scale—potentially transforming fields from winter sports equipment to aerospace and nanotechnology.

🔗 Massimo

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/1plj-7p4z

Based Book Sale

250+ ebooks for 99 cents or less each

https://sigmagame.substack.com/p/based-book-sale

“Occupied from around 1600 BC and linked to the Cherkaskul and Alekseevka-Sargary cultures, Semiyarka is a newly identified 140ha Late Bronze Age settlement in north-eastern Kazakhstan,” the researchers write. “The site represents a unique settlement with planned architecture—including a central monumental structure—low-density pottery scatter and evidence for organised tin-bronze production.”

https://thedebrief.org/archaeologists-uncover-a-massive-bronze-age-proto-city-in-kazakhstan-that-rewrites-steppe-history/

Campbell’s VP on temp. leave amid wrongful termination lawsuit related to ’secretly-recorded’ rant discussing company’s alleged use of ‘bioengineered meat’
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Campbell’s Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, Martin Bally, is now on temporary leave following an investigation into a recorded rant where he is accused of belittling the company, in addition to slamming its products and customers.

Sen. Tuberville urges immediate ban and mass deportation of Muslim immigrants in U.S. after D.C. shooting suspect ID’d as Afghan national
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Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville ignited a firestorm on Wednesday night, demanding the federal government to “IMMEDIATELY BAN all ISLAM immigrants and DEPORT every single Islamist who is living among us” hours after an Afghan national ambushed and shot two West Virginia National Guardsmen near the White House.

Can attest. I graduated with my PhD in 1995 and it took me nearly five years including some extensive additional training, before I landed my first professional job in 1999.

Amazon can be a bit slow updating results, but the Based Book Sale has already placed over a thousand Based Books in the hands - or e-readers - of Based Readers. Here are the interim results after the first two days of the sale, and even more Black Friday offers from Based Authors and Publishers.

https://basedbooksale.substack.com/p/black-friday-book-deals

JUST IN - Trump says he's rescinding and terminating any executive order signed under Biden using an auto-pen.

@disclosetv

It’s a wake-up call, but sadly, “Scouting USA” is unlikely to pick up the phone.

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/25/nx-s1-5615164/pentagon-scouting-hegseth-cut-ties

I suspect this guy is correct in his assessment. The vaxx is having widespread negative and increasing consequences on people's cognitive abilities and personalities.

https://xcancel.com/JamesThrot/status/1993683186941829347

The correlation between tattoos and mental illness increases with number and size of tattoos. Greater skin coverage predicts increased quantity and severity of psychological disorders.

I think he's cracked the code.

NEW - UK concludes "Exercise Pegasus," the largest pandemic simulation in nearly a decade, with the simulated virus enterovirus EV-D68, thought to originate from pigs and primarily killing children.

Read more: https://www.disclose.tv/id/38675lannj/

@disclosetv

Cynthia Chung has decided to finally start building up her X/Twitter channel. Subscribe to that here https://x.com/Cynthia_Rising

"Counterfeit World" by Five Times August https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSPnNtUdqYo