Scientific advancement is phenomenal, and we have the tools and techniques to explore our world to previous undreamt-of levels. Yet still, mysteries abound, even when it comes to something as commonplace and ‘simple’ as water.
You will know how important water is. It covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and represents over two-thirds of your body mass. It’s 95% of our eyes!
It can be beautiful and dramatic, but also a source of huge global concern, in places where's it is scarce or where the polar icecaps are melting. Yet, water can also be an everyday commodity that we take utterly for granted.
So, it’s easy to assume that we know everything about water.
In fact, new theories abound, including ones suggesting that water can be engineered and manipulated.
This especially focuses on something which has been referred to as fourth phase water. The thinking behind this is that it’s possible to create a version of water that is more concentrated, offering a quicker and more intensive hydration process.
Much of the work on this topic has been published and explained by Dr Gerald Pollack, whose Laboratory is within the Bioengineering Department at the University of Washington. This globally-renowned water scientist and public speaker is the author of award-winning books including The Fourth Phase of Water (2013), and Cells, Gels, and the Engines of Life (2001).
His fourth phase of water is more usually referred to as Exclusion-zone or EZ water. This article explains the basics of his research, which could have substantial repercussions for health, right down to the level of human cell biology.
The background; what is water?
You may currently believe that differences in water simply comes from the materials it contains in addition to H2O molecules. Higher calcium, magnesium etc.
For example, there are 320 million cubic miles of water in our oceans. Representing 97% of the entire water resources of our planet. (So, only 3% of water is fresh). The difference is therefore largely salt, right?
Collecting, purifying, and distributing water is a constant cycle, and the more developed our planet becomes, the harder it gets to manage this most basic resource effectively. Hence such a worldwide push to conserve water and use it more wisely. Or to understand how it can be altered and 'improved.
The molecules in water are tiny and have been difficult to study to the same degree that gas molecules are. Leading to long-held assumptions about water that may eventually be overturned.
It could even be possible that not all water is identical, and some can't be classified simply as H2O (and therefore containing one oxygen and two hydrogen elements.)
What is the fourth phase of water?
The potential for there to be variations in the structure of water links to a theory that has actually been around for a century but has been widely promoted by Dr Gerald Pollack.
The three accepted forms that water takes are liquid, solid, and vapour.
The evidence is growing that the fourth phase of water is somewhere between a liquid and a solid. Its nearest equivalent is a gel.
Imagine droplets of water that briefly sit on the surface of a larger body – such as rain on a lake or puddle. There can be a short delay in amalgamation but a significant one.
Also, water is constantly evaporating from the earth’s surface, but why do just some of that cluster into a cloud formation? Plus, how do clouds float? This is evaporated water that collects together and then stays in formation, but why only in certain amounts?
These questions perplex even the scientific community as we don’t know much about the social behaviour of water – how the molecules interact with each other or other molecules.
What we are starting to understand is that water does behave differently, on occasions. Such as the water inside cells in the human body is organised and ordered.
Much of this behaviour may be linked to the relative electrical charge it carries.
Also, Dr Pollack has proven that you can create water that repels particles – an Exclusion Zone – of water that acts like a gel.
The different charge that water carries
Research has started to explore the electrical charges in the molecules of water, and the ways they can be manipulated to create the fourth phase or stiffer version of water.
The natural progression of this theory is that using magnetics, you can alter the structure of water and therefore the way it interacts with living cells.
One very simple way to model this is to gently lay a paperclip on water and let it float. This is because the top layer of water is in the stiffer fourth phase. Push that clip through and let it rest just under the surface, and it sinks quickly to the bottom.
The difference is potentially the relative charge of the different levels of water. Experiments have shown that direct and indirect light interacts with the levels of Infrared energy-water collects, and therefore its charge and behaviour.
Light energy conversion to chemical energy is common and now it is understood to be a process happening in water too.
Growing our understanding of this is important in several ways.
We get renewable natural energy from the force of water. A better grasp of water’s constituency and behaviour could improve the charge we get from it.
Other applications could include optimising hydrophilic materials to exclude and filter pollutants and create cleaner water. Potentially this could lead to excluding salt from ocean water, creating a much larger source of usable water on Earth,
This could have important repercussions for countries experiencing devastating water shortages. As understanding the fourth phase of water could lead to better options for desalination and filtration and provide a free energy source.
High spin state water
Could the energy in fourth phase water also drive biological processes?
Dr Pollack is not the only authority on the complexities of water, and the current limits to our understanding. There are other theories that also suggest we know less about water than we realise.
For instance, how do different water samples show variations in heat transference and refractive ability?
The basic precept is that if you can change water’s molecular density and weight, then you find ways to create or collect water of differing qualities and absorption rates.
Suggesting that water can have its properties changed using sophisticated engineering methods links with something called high spin state. For some years, it’s been understood that rotating matter at high speeds can magnetise it, within its atomic nuclei.
The spin state of water has been researched to help us to understand its catalytic properties. It’s a field of quantum physics theory known as spintronics.
Spintronics aims to push the boundaries of traditional electronics, by exploring the spin of electrons, to create new engineering applications. The Holy Grail is to find a quantum spin liquid (QSL) in condensed-matter physics.
So can we create concentrated water?
This all dovetails with theories that the chemical make-up of different waters, from different sources, is far more complex than we currently understand.
Could the science of this fourth phase of water – and high spin states – one day lead us to create a concentrated version of water? One that is purer and better charged than other types, with different absorption rates and a different impact on our biological processes?
Though this can seem a stretch, the initial findings of scientists such as Dr. Gerald Pollack suggest that more detailed research is entirely sensible and could one day reveal the true depths of water!
“There are more things on heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet.
