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Experiments use positive and negative electric forces to tweak ice formation

A watched pot never boils, but an electrically charged pot sometimes freezes.

A study in the Feb. 5 Science reports that water can freeze at different temperatures depending on whether the surface it rests on is positively or negatively charged. Under certain conditions, water can even freeze as it heats up.

This supercooled water is useful in nature and in the lab, from frogs and fish surviving long winters to cryogenic preservation of blood and tissues.