Fire in Space

It is an established fact that water, under this condition of absolute stillness, will remain uncongealed at a temperature several degrees below zero, whilst experiment, at the same time, shows that a very slight shock will often be sufflcient to convert it into solid ice. 

It had occurred to Servadac that if some commimication could be opened with Gourbi Island, there would be a fine scope for hunting expeditions. Having this ultimate object in view, he assembled his little colony upon a projecting rock at the extremity of the promontory, and having called Nina and Pablo out to him in front, he said  

Putting a fragment of ice into Nina s hand, he addressed himself to Pablo  

Nina balanced the piece of ice two or three times in her hand, and threw it forward with all her strength. A sudden thrill seemed to vibrate across the motionless waters to the distant horizon, and the Gallian Sea had become a solid sheet of ice. 

Super-coohng is not an exelusive characteristic of water, it can be done with other liquids as well, but it is surprisingly easy for water because of the special hydrogen bonding network. In fact, under very special conditions at high pressure, water can even be super-eooled to -130 °C. This extremely unstable state can freeze upon heating  

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