Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 036101 (2008)

Might water freeze spontaneously in tight spaces? K. B. Jinesh and Joost Frenken at Leiden University in the Netherlands say that a film of water just a few molecules thick turns to ice at room temperature when it is confined between a piece of graphite and a blunt tungsten needle.

They write that the needle tip moved jerkily across the graphite, similarly to chalk across a blackboard, rather than being lubricated by the intervening water. The jerks suggest a surface corrugation closer to that of ice than graphite. Given previous controversy about how water behaves in nanoscale spaces, the claim is likely to excite lively debate.