Water has new molecular properties: Scientists
New York, Aug 14 : US scientists have predicted a fundamental asymmetry in the mechanism of water, which had previously gone unnoticed.
For nearly a century, it was thought that the mechanisms by which water transports the H+ and OH ions were mirror images of each other -- identical in all ways except for directions of the hydrogen bonds involved in the process.
Water consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, but the hydrogen atoms are relatively mobile and can hop from one molecule to another, and it is this hopping that renders the two ionic species so mobile in water.
Prior research had indicated that two main geometrical arrangements of hydrogen bonds (one associated with each ion) facilitate the hops.
But the study found that one of the arrangements led to significantly slower hops for OH than for H+ at four degrees Celsius.
"The new finding is quite surprising and may enable deeper understanding of water's properties as well as its role as a fluid in many of nature's phenomena," said lead author Alexej Jerschow, Professor at the New York University (NYU).
If this asymmetry predicted is correct, it could be exploited in different applications by tailoring a system to favour one ion over the other, the researchers said.
In the study, detailed in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team involved cooling water down to its so-called temperature of maximum density, where the asymmetry is expected to be most strongly manifest, thereby allowing it to be carefully detected.
By cooling water down to this temperature, the team employed nuclear magnetic resonance methods (the same type of approach is medically in magnetic resonance imaging) to show that the difference in lifetimes of the two ions reaches a maximum value (the greater the lifetime, the slower the transport).
By accentuating the difference in lifetimes, the asymmetry became clear.
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'Another jumla': Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi over Employment Linked Incentive scheme
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New Delhi (PTI): Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the government's 'Employment Linked Incentive' scheme, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said while he creates new slogans everyday, the youth are still waiting for real opportunities, and asked if it was "just another jumla".
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that after the 2024 election, PM Modi announced the "Employment Linked Incentive" scheme with much fanfare, promising to provide employment to our youth.
"It's been nearly a year since announcing the scheme, the government hasn't even defined it, and has returned the Rs 10,000 crores allotted to it. This shows how serious the PM is about unemployment," he alleged without elaborating the claim.
There was no immediate response from the government on it.
Gandhi said jobs can't be created by focusing only on large corporates, promoting cronies over fair-play businesses, prioritising assembly over production, and disregarding India's indigenous skills.
"The way to create crores of jobs is through large-scale investment in MSMEs, fair markets where competition can thrive, support for local production networks and youth equipped with the right skills," he said.
"The PM won't agree with these ideas. But I must ask him directly: Prime Minister ji, you announced ELI with great showmanship - but where has this Rs 10,000 crore scheme disappeared? Have you abandoned our unemployed youth along with your promises?"
"While you create new slogans every day, our youth are still waiting for real opportunities. What is your concrete plan to generate the crores of jobs India desperately needs, or is this just another jumla?" he said.
Gandhi further asked when will the PM shift his focus from enriching Adani and his "billionaire friends" to ensuring that young people from marginalised communities have equal access to employment.
