The Origin of Water’s Anomalous Properties Captured by X-ray Experiments

Water is the most important liquid for our existence on Earth and it plays an essential role in physics, chemistry, biology and geoscience. What makes water unique is not only its importance but also the anomalous behavior of many of its macroscopic properties. For example, density, specific heat, viscosity and compressibility of water behave in ways opposite to other liquids that we know. If we look at a glass of ice water, everything is, in a sense, upside down.