Transcriber: Robert Tucker Reviewer: Alessandra Tadiotto Thanks. Water is kind of lovely to have a look at, and I assume you most likely all know that you just’re two-thirds water — you do, do not you? Proper. However it’s possible you’ll not know that as a result of the water molecule is so small, that two-thirds interprets into 99% of your molecules. Consider it, 99% p.c of your molecules are water. So, your sneakers are carrying round a blob of water primarily. Now, the query is, in your cells, do these water molecules truly do one thing? Are these molecules primarily jobless or do they do one thing that is likely to be actually, actually fascinating? For that matter are we even actually positive that water is H₂O? We examine that within the textbook, however is it potential that some water is definitely not H₂O? So, these are questions whose solutions are literally not as easy as you assume they is likely to be. In reality, we’re actually at midnight about water, we all know so little. And why do we all know so little? Nicely, you most likely assume that water is so pervasive, and it is such a easy molecule, that all the things should be recognized about water, proper? I imply you’d assume it is all there. Nicely, scientists assume the identical. Many scientists assume, och, water it is so easy, that all the things have to be recognized. And, actually, that is by no means the case. So, let me present you, to begin with, a number of examples of issues about water that we should know, however we actually have not a clue. Here is one thing that you just see day by day. You see a cloud within the sky and, most likely, you have not requested the query: How does the water get there? Why, I imply, there’s just one cloud sitting there, and the water is evaporating all over the place, why does it go to this cloud forming what you see there? So, one other query: Might you think about droplets floating on water? We count on droplets to coalesce immediately with the water. The droplets persist for a very long time. And this is one other instance of strolling on water. This can be a lizard from Central America. And since it walks on water it is known as the Jesus Christ lizard. At first you will say, “Nicely, I do know the reply to this, the floor rigidity is excessive in water.” However the frequent concept of floor rigidity is that there is a single molecular layer of water on the prime, and this single molecular layer is ample to create sufficient rigidity to carry no matter you place there. I feel that is an instance that does not match that. And this is one other instance. Two beakers of water. You place two electrodes in, and you place excessive voltage between them after which what occurs is a bridge varieties, and this bridge is product of water, a bridge of water. And this bridge might be sustained as you progress one beaker away from the opposite beaker, as a lot as 4 centimeters, sustained primarily indefinitely. How come we do not perceive this? So, what I imply is that there are many issues about water that we must always perceive, however we do not perceive, we actually do not know. So, okay, so what will we learn about water? Nicely, you’ve got discovered that the water molecule accommodates an oxygen and two hydrogens. That you simply study within the textbooks. We all know that. We additionally know there are numerous water molecules, and these water molecules are literally shifting round microscopically. So, we all know that. What do not we learn about water? Nicely, we do not know something in regards to the social habits of water. What do I imply by social? Nicely, say, sitting on the bar and chatting along with your neighbor. We do not understand how water molecules truly share data or work together, and in addition we do not know in regards to the precise actions of water molecules. How water molecules work together with each other, and in addition how water molecules work together with different molecules like that purple one sitting there. Unknown. Additionally the phases of water. We have all discovered that there is a stable part, a liquid part and a vapor part. Nevertheless, 100 years in the past, there was some concept that there is likely to be a fourth part, someplace in between a stable and a liquid. Sir William Hardy, a well-known bodily chemist, 100 years in the past precisely, professed that there was truly a fourth part of water, and this water was form of extra ordered than different kinds of water, and in reality had a gel-like consistency. So, the query arose to us — you already know, all of this was forgotten, as a result of individuals started, as strategies improved, to start to check molecules as an alternative of ensembles of molecules, and other people forgot in regards to the collectivity of water molecules and commenced trying, the identical as in biology, started taking a look at particular person molecules and overpassed the gathering. So, we thought we’ll have a look at this as a result of we had some concept that it is potential that this lacking hyperlink, this fourth part, may truly be the lacking hyperlink in order that we are able to perceive the phenomena relating to water that we do not perceive. So, we began by trying someplace between a stable and a liquid. And the primary experiments that we did get us going. We took a gel, that is the stable, and we put it subsequent to water. And we added some particles to the water as a result of we had the sense that particles would present us one thing. And you’ll see what occurred is that the particles started shifting away from the interface between the gel and the water, they usually simply saved shifting and shifting and shifting. And so they wound up stopping at a distance that is roughly the dimensions of one in every of your hairs. Now, which will appear small, however by molecular dimensions that is virtually infinite. It is an enormous dimension. So, we started learning the properties of this zone, and we known as it, for apparent causes, the exclusion zone, as a result of virtually all the things you place there would get excluded, would get expelled from the zone because it builds up, or as an alternative of exclusion zone, EZ for brief. And so we discovered that the sorts of supplies that might create or nucleate this sort of zone, not simply gels, however we discovered that virtually each water-loving, or so-called hydrophilic floor may do precisely that, creating the EZ water. And because the EZ water builds, it might expel all of the solutes or particles, no matter into the majority water. We started studying about properties, and we have spent now fairly a number of years trying on the properties. And it appears to be like one thing like this: You could have a fabric subsequent to water and these sheets of EZ layers start to construct, they usually construct and construct they usually simply preserve increase one after the other. So, when you have a look at the construction of every one in every of these planes, you may see that it is a honeycomb, hexagonal form of construction, a bit like ice, however not ice. And, when you have a look at it rigorously, you may see the molecular buildings. So, after all, it consists of hydrogen and oxygen, as a result of it is constructed from water. However, truly, they don’t seem to be water molecules. Should you begin counting the variety of hydrogens and the variety of oxygens, it seems that it isn’t H₂O. It is truly H₃O₂. So, it’s potential that there is water that is not H₂O, a part of water. So, we started trying, after all, extra into these extraordinarily fascinating properties. And what we discovered is, if we caught electrodes into the EZ water, as a result of we thought there is likely to be some electrical potential, it turned out that there is plenty of destructive cost in that zone. And we used some dyes to hunt optimistic cost, and we discovered that within the bulk water zone there was an equal quantity of positivity. So, what is going on on? It seemed like, that subsequent to those interfaces the water molecule was someway splitting up right into a destructive half and a optimistic half. And the destructive half sat proper subsequent to the water-loving materials. Constructive fees went out past that. We discovered it is the identical, you did not want a straight interface, you might even have a sphere. So, you place a sphere within the water, and any sphere that is suspended within the water develops one in every of these exclusion zones, EZ’s, round it, with the destructive cost, past that’s all of the optimistic cost. Cost separation. It did not need to be solely a fabric sphere, actually, you might put a droplet in there, a water droplet, or, actually, even a bubble, you’d get the identical outcome. Surrounding every one in every of these entities is a destructive cost and the separated optimistic cost. So, this is a query for you. Should you take two of those negatively charged entities, and also you drop them in a beaker of water close to one another, what occurs to the gap between them? I guess that 95% of you’ll say: Nicely, that is straightforward, I discovered in physics, destructive and destructive repel one another, so, subsequently they’ll go aside from each other, proper? That what you’d guess? Nicely, the precise outcome if you consider it, is that it isn’t solely the destructive cost however you even have optimistic cost. And the optimistic cost is particularly concentrated in between these two spheres, as a result of they arrive from contributions from each of these spheres. So, there are plenty of them there. When you will have optimistic in between two negatives what occurs is that you just get a gorgeous drive. And so that you count on these two spheres to truly come collectively although they’ve the identical cost, and that is precisely what occurs. It has been recognized for for a few years. They arrive collectively, and if in case you have lots of them, as an alternative of simply two of them, you will get one thing that appears like this. They’re going to come collectively and that is known as a colloid crystal. It is a secure construction. In reality, the yogurt that you just might need had this morning most likely consists of what you see proper right here. So, they arrive collectively due to the other cost. The identical factor is true if in case you have droplets. They arrive collectively due to the opposing fees. So, once you consider droplets, and aerosol droplets within the air, and take into consideration the cloud, it is truly the explanation that these aerosol droplets come collectively is due to this reverse cost. So, the droplets from the air, equally charged, come collectively coalesce, providing you with that cloud within the sky. So the fourth part, or EZ part, truly explains rather a lot. It explains, for instance, the cloud. It is the optimistic cost that pulls these negatively charged EZ shells collectively to present you a condensed cloud that you just see up within the sky. When it comes to the water droplets, the explanation that these are sustained on the floor for truly typically so long as tens of seconds — and you’ll see it when you’re in a ship and it is raining, you may typically see this on the floor of the lake, these droplets are sustained for a while — and the explanation they’re sustained is that every droplet accommodates this shell, this EZ shell, and the shell must be breached to ensure that the water to coalesce with the water beneath. Now, when it comes to the Jesus Christ lizard, the explanation the lizard can stroll, it isn’t due to one single molecular layer, however there are numerous EZ layers lining the floor, and these are gel-like, they’re stiffer than extraordinary surfaces so, subsequently, you may float a coin on the floor of the water, you may float a paperclip, though if put it beneath the floor it sinks proper right down to the underside. it is due to that. And when it comes to the water bridge, Should you consider it as plain outdated, liquid, bulk water — onerous to know. However when you consider it as EZ water and a gel-like character, then you may perceive the way it may very well be sustained with virtually no droop, a really stiff construction. Okay, so, all effectively and good, however why is this handy for us? What can we do with it? Nicely, we are able to get vitality from water. In reality, the vitality that we are able to get from water is free vitality. It is actually free. We are able to take it from the setting. Let me clarify. So, you will have a state of affairs within the diagram with destructive cost and optimistic cost, and when you will have two opposing fees subsequent to one another it is like battery. So, actually we’ve a battery product of water. And you’ll extract cost from it, so that’s proper now. Batteries run down, like your cellphone must be plugged in day by day or two, and so the query is: Nicely, what fees this water battery? It took us some time to determine that out, what recharges the battery. And sooner or later, we’re doing an experiment, and a scholar within the lab walks by and he has this lamp. And he takes the lamp and he shines it on the specimen, and the place the sunshine was shining we discovered that the exclusion zone grew, grew by leaps and bounds. So, we thought, aha, it appears to be like like mild, and we have many experiments to point out, that the vitality for constructing this comes from mild. It comes not solely from the direct mild, but additionally oblique mild. What do I imply by oblique mild? Nicely, what I imply is that the oblique mild is, for instance, infrared mild that exists throughout this auditorium. If we have been to end up all of the lights, together with the floodlights, and I pulled out my infrared digital camera and seemed on the viewers, you’d see a really clear, brilliant picture. And if I seemed on the partitions you’d see a really clear picture. And the explanation for that’s that all the things is giving off infrared vitality. You are giving off infrared vitality. That is the vitality that is simplest in constructing this cost separation and this fourth part. So, in different phrases you will have the fabric, you will have the EZ water, and also you gather vitality from outdoors, and as you gather the vitality from outdoors, the exclusion zone builds. And when you a take away that further vitality, it would return to its regular measurement. So, this battery is mainly charged by mild, by the solar. It is a reward from the solar. If you consider it, what is going on on, if you consider the plant that you’ve got sitting in your kitchen, you are getting mild, you already know the place the vitality comes from, the vitality comes from the sunshine. It is the photons that hit the plant, that provide all of the vitality, proper? And the plant converts it to chemical vitality, the sunshine vitality to chemical vitality, and the chemical vitality is then used to do development and metabolism and bending and what-have-you. That everyone knows, it is quite common. What I am suggesting to you from our outcomes, is that the identical factor occurs in water. No shock, as a result of the plant is generally water, suggesting to you that vitality is coming in from outdoors, mild vitality, infrared vitality, radiant vitality mainly, and the water is absorbing the vitality and changing that vitality into some type of helpful work. And so we come to the equation E = H₂O. A bit completely different from the equation that you just’re aware of. However I feel it truly is true which you could’t separate vitality from water; water is a repository of vitality coming free from the setting. Now can we harvest a few of this vitality, or is it simply completely ineffective? Nicely, we are able to try this as a result of you will have a destructive zone and a optimistic zone. And when you put two electrodes in, you may get vitality, proper? Identical to a battery. And we have accomplished that and we have been in a position to, for instance, have a each easy optical show. It may be run from the vitality which you could get from right here. And clearly we have to construct it up into one thing larger and extra main to be able to get the vitality. That is free vitality and it comes from water. One other alternative we have been growing is getting consuming — clear, free, consuming water. When you have a hydrophilic materials, and you place contaminated water subsequent to it with junk that you just need to do away with — So, what occurs is, I’ve proven you, is that these items will get excluded from past the exclusion zone, and the remaining EZ does not have any contaminants. So, you may put micro organism there, and the micro organism would exit. And since the exclusion zone is large, it is simple to extract the water and harvest it. And we have accomplished that. And we’re engaged on making an attempt to make it sensible. Nicely, one of many issues we seen is that it appears to be like as if salt can be excluded. So, we’re now occupied with extending this, placing in ocean water. And you place the ocean water in, and if the salt is excluded, you then merely take the EZ water which needs to be freed from salt, and you may get consuming water then out of this. So, getting organic vitality. The cells are stuffed with macromolecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and every one these is a nucleating web site to construct EZ waters. So, round every one in every of these is EZ water. Now, the EZ water is negatively charged, the area past is positively charged, so you will have cost separation. And these separated fees are free, out there, to drive reactions inside your cells. So, what it means actually is, it is a form of photosynthesis that your cells are doing. The sunshine is being absorbed, transformed into cost separation, simply the identical that occurs in photosynthesis, and these fees are utilized by you. One instance of this, acquiring vitality on a bigger scale, I imply the vitality is coming in on a regular basis from throughout and it is absorbed by you, truly fairly deeply: Should you take a flashlight and also you shine it by the palm, you may truly see it by right here, so it penetrates fairly deeply, and you’ve got many blood vessels throughout you, particularly capillaries close to the periphery, and it is potential that a few of this vitality that is coming in is used to assist drive the blood circulation. Let me clarify that in a second. What you see right here is the microcirculation, it is a piece of muscle, and you’ll see a number of capillaries winding their approach by. After which these capillaries are the pink blood cells which you could see. A typical pink blood cell appears to be like like on the higher proper. It is large, however after they truly circulation, they bend. The explanation they bend is that the vessel is simply too small. So, the vessel is typically even half the dimensions of the pink blood cells. They’ll squinch and undergo. Now it requires fairly a little bit of vitality to do this, and the query is: Does your coronary heart actually provide all of the vitality that is needed for driving this occasion? And what we discovered is a shock. We discovered that if we take a hole tube product of hydrophilic materials, similar to a straw, and we put the straw within the water, we discovered fixed endless circulation that goes by. So, this is the experiment, this is the tube, and you’ll see that the tube is put within the water. We fill out the within simply to verify it is fully stuffed inside, put into the water and the water accommodates some spheres, some particles, so we are able to detect any actions that occurred. And also you look within the microscope and what you discover appears to be like like this: endless circulation by the tube. It might go on for a full day so long as we have checked out it. So, it is free; mild is driving this circulation, in a tube, no further sources of vitality apart from mild. So, if you consider the human, and take into consideration the vitality that is being absorbed in your water, and in your cells, it is potential that we might use a few of this vitality to drive organic processes in a approach that you just had not envisioned earlier than. So, what I introduced to you has many implications for science and expertise that we have simply begun occupied with. And an important is that the radiant vitality is absorbed by the water, and giving vitality to the water when it comes to chemical potential. And this can be utilized in organic contexts, for instance, as in blood circulation, however in lots of different contexts as effectively. And once you consider chemical reactions that contain water, you simply consider a molecule sitting within the water. However what I’ve proven you isn’t just that, you will have the particle, EZ, optimistic cost, the impact of sunshine, all of these should be taken into consideration. So, it might be essential to rethink most of the sorts of reactions, for understanding these reactions that we have discovered about in our chemistry class. Climate. So, I’ve proven you about clouds. The crucial issue is cost. Should you take a course in climate and such, you hear that essentially the most crucial components are temperature and strain. Cost is sort of not talked about, although you may see lightning and thunder on a regular basis. However fees could also be way more essential than strain and temperature in giving us the form of climate that we see. Well being. Once you’re sick the physician says drink water. There could also be extra to that than meets the attention. And in meals, meals is generally water, we do not consider meals as being water, but it surely’s largely water. If we need to perceive methods to freeze it, methods to protect it, methods to keep away from dehydration, we should know one thing in regards to the nature of water, and we’re starting to know about that. When it comes to sensible makes use of, there’s desalination a chance, and by the way in which, the desalination, the place you want it most is the place the solar shines essentially the most, in dry areas. So, the vitality for doing all that is out there, freely out there, to do it. And for normal filtration as effectively, a quite simple approach of eradicating micro organism and such from consuming water — it may very well be truly fairly low-cost for third world international locations. And eventually, getting electrical energy out of water by the solar’s vitality that is available in, one other chance. So, I’ve tried to elucidate to you water’s fourth part, actually understanding that water has not three phases, however 4 phases. And understanding the fourth part, I feel is the important thing to unlock the door to the understanding of many, many phenomena. And largely, what we truly like most, is knowing the mild great thing about nature. Thanks very a lot. (Applause)