Jan 15, 2019 08:00:00

Why does the strange phenomenon of making ice like the white hair of an old man occur?

As you walk through the forests of Europe on a cold winter morning, you may find objects that look like the white hair of an old man falling to the ground. Actually, this object is made of ice that is elongated like silk thread and is densely packed, and is also called

'Hair ice'. Researchers in Germany and Switzerland have unraveled the mystery of why this mysterious phenomenon occurs.

BBC --Earth --Mysterious 'hair ice' is formed by fungus
http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150727-mystical-hair-ice-riddle-solved

It seems that hair ice is made on a humid winter night, and it is said that hair ice is most likely to be made when the temperature is slightly below 0 degrees Celsius. Freezing water below freezing is a normal phenomenon, but in forests such as Germany and Switzerland, hardwood wood can grow loosely curled, elongated ice that looks like silk or white hair.

The hair ice that actually grows from wood looks like this. Ice is only 0.02 mm in diameter and can be up to 20 cm in length. At first glance, it seems that the wig has fallen to the ground, but the ice is very brittle because it is thin, and it melts as it gets warmer. Hair ice is formed in broad-leaved forests at latitudes of 45 to 55 degrees north, and it is said that wood that once produced hair ice often produces hair ice repeatedly thereafter.

This is a movie that captures how hair ice is actually formed.

Timelapse video of growing hair ice


Wet wood is reflected on the screen.

If you keep observing below freezing, the water in the wood will eventually freeze and appear white on the surface.

The appearance of the ice slowly protruding from the wood is like a living thing, but if you look closely, you can see that the ice is in the form of thin threads.

The ice grows steadily, but for some reason the ice threads continue to grow thinly without coalescing ...

Produced hair ice like curled white hair.

'When I first saw hair ice while walking in the woods, I was surprised at how beautiful it was,' said

Christian Matzler, a professor at the University of Bern. Intrigued Professor Matzler said he and his colleagues began to study why hair ice was made.

As a result of further research, the team identified a type of fungus called 'Exidiopsis effusa' in wood that caused hair ice to be made. Even if this bacterium does not exist, ice may be formed on the surface of the wood, but in that case, it does not form a thread like hair ice.

Professor Matzler believes that the fungus has created chemicals that prevent the ice from recrystallizing, and the prevention of ice recrystallization prevents the ice from becoming larger than 0.02 mm in diameter and remains thin. We expect it to continue to grow for several hours.

by Bemep