Why is Water Exceptional?
Mike Williams explains why water is exceptional and what that means for all of us.
Water is the only molecule in the natural world which expands when it freezes. And that is not its only unusual feature. It is the cornerstone of all of life on this planet, and maybe others. Water is part of the myths and rituals of civilisations all over the world. But if H20, the one chemical formula just about everyone can recognise, was just a little bit different, life as we know it would not exist. Mike Williams explains why water is exceptional and what that means for all of us.
(Photo: Raindrops on a window. Credit to James Beard)
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‘Water is weird’
Duration: 02:31
Broadcasts
Fri 5 Feb 201620:32GMTBBC World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East, UK DAB/Freeview & Americas and the Caribbean only- Fri 5 Feb 201621:32GMTBBC World Service East Asia, West and Central Africa, South Asia & Australasia only
- Sun 7 Feb 201611:32GMTBBC World Service US Public Radio
- Sun 7 Feb 201619:32GMTBBC World Service US Public Radio
- Mon 8 Feb 201602:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Mon 8 Feb 201603:32GMTBBC World Service UK DAB/Freeview, Online, Europe and the Middle East & East Asia only
- Mon 8 Feb 201604:32GMTBBC World Service South Asia
- Mon 8 Feb 201605:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Mon 8 Feb 201607:32GMTBBC World Service Europe and the Middle East & East and Southern Africa only
- Mon 8 Feb 201608:32GMTBBC World Service US Public Radio
- Mon 8 Feb 201613:32GMTBBC World Service UK DAB/Freeview & Online only
- Mon 8 Feb 201614:32GMTBBC World Service Europe and the Middle East, West and Central Africa, East Asia, South Asia & East and Southern Africa only
- Mon 8 Feb 201617:32GMTBBC World Service US Public Radio
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