7 Times The Media Spectacularly Failed To Understand Science
3. We Dont Know Why Ice Expands
Say this with me: We *do* know why ice expands.
This little factoid often makes its way onto "mind blowing mysteries that science can't solve" (looking at you, Cracked) and it's really difficult to figure out why given that the briefest of Google searches will tell you exactly why water expands as it freezes.
For the interested, water expands when it freezes due to the shape of the molecule. The oxygen atoms in water are negatively charged and the hydrogens atoms are positively charged. This will make them attracted to one another, forming something called "hydrogen bonds". The bonds hold the molecules at arms length at lower temperatures, making it expand.
There's plenty that's strange about water, and there's actually plenty that we don't understand about it, so this is a weirdly gentle thing to make up.