Editing Polywater

{{Short description|Hypothetical polymerized form of water}}

'''Polywater''' was a hypothesized [[polymer]]ized form of [[water]] that was the subject of much [[scientific controversy]] during the late 1960s, first described by Soviet scientist Nikolai Fedyakin. By 1969 the [[popular press]] had taken notice of Western attempts to recreate the substance and sparked fears of a "polywater gap" between the United States and Soviet Union. Increased press attention also brought with it increased scientific attention, and as early as 1970 doubts about its authenticity were being circulated.<ref name=unnatural/><ref name="poly">{{cite news|date=September 22, 1969|title=Polywater|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/09/22/archives/polywater.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=24 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=October 19, 1970|title=Doubts about Polywater|work=[[Time magazine]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,944149,00.html|url-status=dead|access-date=24 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201222145/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,944149,00.html|archive-date=1 December 2010}}</ref>  By 1973 it was found to be illusory, being just water with any number of common compounds contaminating it.<ref>{{cite news|author=Butler|first=S. T.|date=September 17, 1973|title=Polywater Debate Fizzles Out|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DaYpAAAAIBAJ&dq=polywater&pg=5106%2C6878927|access-date=1 May 2021|via=Google News}}</ref> Today, polywater is best known as an example of [[pathological science]].<ref name="Greenberg2009">{{cite book|author=Greenberg|first=Arthur|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zR0H9ArBSFQC&pg=PA287|title=Chemistry: Decade by Decade|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing (Facts on File imprint)|isbn=978-1-4381-0978-7|location=New York, New York|pages=287|chapter=Chapter 8|access-date=1 May 2021|via=Google Books (Preview)}}</ref>

==Background==
In 1961, the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] physicist Nikolai Fedyakin, working at the Technological Institute of [[Kostroma]], [[Russia]], performed measurements on the properties of water which had been [[condensation|condensed]] in, or repeatedly forced through, narrow quartz [[capillary action|capillary tubes]]. Some of these experiments resulted in what was seemingly a new form of water with a [[boiling-point elevation|higher boiling point]], [[freezing-point depression|lower freezing point]], and much higher [[viscosity]] than ordinary water – about that of a [[syrup]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Федякин (Fedyakin) |first1=Н.Н. (N.N.) |title=Изменение структуры воды при конденсации в капиллярах |journal=Коллоидный Журнал (Kolloidnyi Zhurnal, Colloid Journal) |date=1962 |volume=24 |pages=497–501 |trans-title=Changes in the structure of water during condensation in capillaries. |language=Russian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Giaimo|first=Cara|date=21 September 2015|title=Polywater, the Soviet Scientific Secret That Made the World Gulp|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/polywater-the-soviet-scientific-secret-that-made-the-world-gulp|access-date=1 May 2021|website=Atlas Obscura}}</ref>

[[Boris Derjaguin]], director of the laboratory for surface physics at the Institute for Physical Chemistry in [[Moscow]], heard about Fedyakin's experiments. He improved on the method to produce the new water, and though he still produced very small quantities of this mysterious material, he did so substantially faster than Fedyakin did. Investigations of the material properties showed a substantially lower freezing point of −40&nbsp;°C or less, a boiling point of 150&nbsp;°C or greater, a density of approx. 1.1 to 1.2&nbsp;g/cm<sup>3</sup>, and increased expansion with increasing temperature. The results were published in Soviet science journals,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Deryagin |first1=B. V. |last2=Fedyakin |first2=N. N. |title=Special properties and viscosity of liquids condensed in capillaries |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR Physics Chemistry |date=1962 |volume=147 |issue=2 |pages=808–811}}</ref> and short summaries were published in ''Chemical Abstracts'' in English, but Western scientists took no notice of the work.

In 1966, Derjaguin travelled to England for the "Discussions of the [[Faraday Society]]" in [[Nottingham]]. There, he presented the work again, and this time English scientists took note of what he referred to as ''anomalous water''. English scientists then started researching the effect as well, and by 1968 it was also under study in the United States.

By 1969, the concept had spread to [[newspapers]] and [[magazines]].<ref name="unnatural">{{cite news|date=December 19, 1969|title=Unnatural Water|work=[[Time magazine]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,941747,00.html|url-status=dead|access-date=24 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091227111703/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,941747,00.html|archive-date=27 December 2009}}</ref><ref name=poly/> There was fear{{Failed verification |date= April 2013}} by the [[United States military]] that there was a so-called "polywater gap" with the [[Soviet Union]], a popular media term indicating a possible capability "gap", or discrepancy, between the US and the USSR, popularized by media hype of the "[[bomber gap]]" and the "[[missile gap]]", during periods when the USSR appeared to be outstripping the US in numbers of these various weapons.<ref>{{cite news |title= U.S. Begins Efforts To Exceed the USSR In Polywater Science. Pentagon Picks Firm to Study Water-Like Fluid That Boils At 400, Was Isolated in 1961 |url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/103777668.html?dids=103777668:103777668&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jun+30,+1969&author=&pub=Wall+Street+Journal&desc=U.S.+Begins+Efforts+To+Exceed+the+USSR+In+Polywater+Science&pqatl=google |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120127093144/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/103777668.html?dids=103777668:103777668&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jun+30,+1969&author=&pub=Wall+Street+Journal&desc=U.S.+Begins+Efforts+To+Exceed+the+USSR+In+Polywater+Science&pqatl=google |url-status= dead |archive-date= January 27, 2012 |newspaper= [[The Wall Street Journal]] |date= June 30, 1969 |access-date= 2010-12-24}}</ref>

A scientific furore followed. Some experiments carried out were able to reproduce Derjaguin's findings, while others failed. Several theories were advanced to explain the phenomenon. Some proposed it was the cause for increasing resistance on [[Transatlantic communications cable|trans-Atlantic phone cables]], while others predicted that if polywater were to contact ordinary water, it would convert that water into polywater, echoing the doomsday scenario in [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s novel ''[[Cat's Cradle]]''. By the 1970s, polywater was well known in the general population.<ref name="PopSci">{{cite news |last= Christian |first= P. A. |author2= Berka, L. H. |title= How You Can Grow Your Own Polywater |work= Popular Science |date= June 1973 |pages= 105–107 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZsYZa8MYtTsC&q=How+You+Can+Grow+Your+Own+Polywater&pg=PA105}}</ref>

During this time, several people questioned the authenticity of what had come to be known in the West as polywater. The main concern was contamination of the water, but the papers went to great lengths to note the care taken to avoid this. [[Denis Rousseau]] and [[Sérgio Pereira da Silva Porto|Sergio Porto]] of [[Bell Labs]] carried out infrared spectrum analysis, which showed polywater to be mostly chlorine and sodium.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Rousseau |first1= Denis L. |last2= Porto |first2= Sergio P. S. |date= March 27, 1970 |title= Polywater: Polymer or Artifact? |journal= Science |volume= 167 |issue= 3926 |pages= 1715–1719 |doi= 10.1126/science.167.3926.1715 |pmid= 17729617 |access-date= August 13, 2011 |url= https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.167.3926.1715?sid=8b4eadf1-7198-4b31-b0fe-e0b27d28b8cf |bibcode= 1970Sci...167.1715R|s2cid= 37067352 |url-access= subscription }}</ref>

[[Denis Rousseau]] undertook an experiment with his own [[perspiration|sweat]] after playing a [[American handball|handball]] game at the lab and found it had identical properties. He then published a paper suggesting polywater was nothing more than water with small amounts of biological impurities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Rousseau |first1= Denis L. |date= January 15, 1971 |title= "Polywater" and Sweat: Similarities between the Infrared Spectra |journal= Science |volume= 171 |issue= 3967 |pages= 170–172 |doi= 10.1126/science.171.3967.170 |pmid= 5538826 |access-date= August 13, 2011 |url= https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.171.3967.170?sid=68de19c4-686a-45e9-84bd-ed9cd65f9196 |bibcode= 1971Sci...171..170R|s2cid= 46032654 |url-access= subscription }}</ref>

Another wave of research followed, this time more tightly controlled. Invariably, polywater could no longer be made. Chemical analysis found the samples of polywater to be contaminated with other substances (explaining the changes in melting and boiling points due to [[colligative properties]]), and examination of polywater by [[electron microscope|electron microscopy]] showed it also contained small particles of various solids – from silica to [[phospholipid]]s, explaining its greater viscosity.

When the experiments which had initially produced polywater were repeated with thoroughly cleaned [[laboratory glassware|glassware]], the anomalous properties of the resulting water vanished, and even the scientists who had originally advanced the case for polywater agreed it did not exist.

In August 1973, Derjaguin and N. V. Churaev published a letter in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' in which they wrote; "these [anomalous] properties should be attributed to impurities rather than to the existence of polymeric water molecules".<ref>{{cite book |last= Franks |first= Felix |title= Polywater |date= 1981 |publisher= The MIT Press |isbn= 0-262-06073-6 |page= 140}}</ref>

[[Denis Rousseau]] used polywater as a classic example of [[pathological science]] and has since written on other examples as well.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Rousseau, Denis L. |title= Case Studies in Pathological Science |journal= [[American Scientist]] |date= January–February 1992 |volume= 80 |issue= 1 |pages= 54–63 |bibcode= 1992AmSci..80...54R|author-link= Denis Rousseau }}</ref>

It has been suggested that polywater should have been dismissed on theoretical grounds. The laws of thermodynamics predicted that, since polywater had a higher boiling point than ordinary water, it meant it was more stable, and thus all of Earth's water should have turned spontaneously into polywater, instead of just part of it.<ref name="bauer" /> [[Richard Feynman]] remarked that if such a material existed, then an animal would exist that would ingest water and excrete polywater, using the energy released from the process to survive.<ref name="bauer">{{cite journal |journal= [[Hyle: International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry]] |title= 'Pathological Science' is not Scientific Misconduct (nor is it pathological) |author= Henry H. Bauer |volume= 8 |issue= 1 |pages= 5–20 |url= http://www.hyle.org/journal/issues/8-1/bauer.htm|author-link= Henry H. Bauer }} The above paper cites this review from Eisenberg: {{cite journal |doi= 10.1126/science.213.4512.1104 |title= A Scientific Gold Rush. (Book Reviews: Polywater) |author= David Eisenberg |journal= [[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume= 213 |issue= 4512 |pages= 1104–1105 |date= September 1981 |bibcode= 1981Sci...213.1104F |pmid= 17741096|author-link= David Eisenberg }}</ref>

==In fiction==
The episodes "[[The Naked Time]]" (''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', 1966) and its sequel, "[[The Naked Now]]" (''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', 1987) involve forms of polywater [[substance intoxication|intoxication]]. In the original episode, a scientific research outpost falls victim to polywater, which causes the crew to become so incapacitated that they all died after shutting off environmental controls in the compound. In the sequel, a [[Starfleet]] vessel is discovered adrift, its crew frozen in various states due to polywater intoxication. The ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]'' episode "[[I, Excretus]]" briefly features a simulated version of the USS ''Cerritos'' plagued by polywater intoxication, leading to a shipwide [[orgy]], as part of a [[holodeck]] drill. [[Beckett Mariner]] attempts the simulation, but is unable to stomach the scenario and chooses to eject herself from an airlock.

The story "Polywater Doodle" by [[Howard L. Myers]] appeared in the February 1971 issue of ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact]]''. It features an animal composed entirely of polywater, with the metabolism described by Richard Feynman. (The title of the story is a pun on "[[Polly Wolly Doodle]]".)

Polywater is the central idea of the 1972 espionage/thriller novel ''[[A Report from Group 17]]'' by [[Robert C. O'Brien (author)|Robert C. O'Brien]]. The story revolves around the use of a type of polywater to make people controllable and incapable of independent thought or action.

==Business==

There is a company named American Polywater Corporation, which is unrelated to the hypothesized form of water. The company is based in [[Stillwater, Minnesota]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Polywater |url=https://www.polywater.com/en/ |website=Polywater}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Erik Freyser, President and COO at Polywater |url=https://transformers-magazine.com/magazine/interview-with-erik-freyser-president-and-coo-at-polywater/ |website=Transformers Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=American Polywater Corporation |url=https://www.power-technology.com/contractors/operations/american-polywater/ |website=Power Technology}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Hexagonal water]]
* [[Water memory]]
* [[Hard water]]
* [[N ray]]
* [[ice-nine]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |author=Derjaguin, B. |title=Polywater reviewed |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |year=1983 |volume=301 |issue=5895 |pages=9–10 |doi=10.1038/301009d0 |ref={{sfnref|Derjaguin|1983}} |bibcode=1983Natur.301....9D|s2cid=42529135 |author-link=Boris Derjaguin |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |author=Derjaguin, B. V. |author2=Zorin, Z. M. |author3=Rabinovich, Ya. I. |display-authors=et al |title=Results of analytical investigation of the composition of "anomalous" water |journal=[[Journal of Colloid and Interface Science]] |year=1974 |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=437–441 |doi=10.1016/0021-9797(74)90053-8 |ref={{sfnref|Derjaguin, Zorin, Rabinovich et al.|1974}} |bibcode=1974JCIS...46..437D |author-link=Boris Derjaguin }}
*Franks, F., ''Polywater'' [[MIT Press]], 1981 {{ISBN|0-262-06073-6}}
* 4. M. De Paz, A. Pozzo, and M. E. Vallauri, Mass spectrometric evidence against "polywater" Chem. Phys. Letters, 7, October 1970

[[Category:1961 introductions]]
[[Category:Discovery and invention controversies]]
[[Category:Forms of water]]
[[Category:Liquid water]]
[[Category:Water chemistry controversies]]
[[Category:Science and technology in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Obsolete theories in chemistry]]
[[Category:Hypothetical chemical compounds]]