When a droplet of water falls on a hot pan, it dances across the surface, skimming on a thin layer of steam like a tiny hovercraft; this is known as the Leidenfrost effect. But now, researchers know what happens when a hot droplet falls on a cool surface.

These new findings, published in the journal Newton, demonstrate that hot and burning droplets can bounce off cool surfaces, propelled by a thin layer of air that forms beneath them. This phenomenon could inspire new strategies for slowing the spread of fires and improving engine efficiency.

“We started with a very fundamental question: What will happen when a burning droplet impacts a solid surface?” says senior author Pingan Zhu of City University of Hong Kong, China.

Bread is full of carbon, which just so happens to be a pretty good conductor when properly processed.

Water isn’t just liquid, ice, or vapor — under extreme conditions, it can transform into exotic phases, such as the newly observed plastic ice VII.

This hybrid phase, predicted years ago but only recently confirmed using cutting-edge neutron spectrometers, exhibits both solid-like structure and liquid-like molecular motion.

Beyond the familiar: water’s many phases.

Researchers in Sweden have reported control over a new kind of magnetism with the potential to boost electronic performance. Their work shows that this new class of magnetism, called altermagnetism, can increase memory device operation speeds by up to a thousand times.

Scientists say it stands apart from the two widely known forms of magnetic order and may open doors to faster, more efficient technologies.

Scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy have confirmed this third category in microscopic devices, and their findings have been published in Nature. Professor Peter Wadley from the same institution led the research.