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Abstract:
Water is perhaps the most ubiquitous, and the most essential, of any molecule on earth. Indeed, it defies the imagination
of even the most creative science fiction writer to picture what life would be like without water. Despite decades of research,
however, water’s puzzling properties are not understood and 63 anomalies that distinguish water from other liquids remain
unsolved. We introduce some of these unsolved mysteries, and demonstrate recent progress in solving them. We present
evidence from experiments and computer simulations supporting the hypothesis that water displays a special transition
point (which is not unlike the ‘‘tipping point’’ immortalized by Malcolm Gladwell). The general idea is that when the liquid
is near this ‘‘tipping point,’’ it suddenly separates into two distinct liquid phases. This concept of a new critical point is
finding application to other liquids as well as water, such as silicon and silica. We also discuss related puzzles, such as the
mysterious behavior of water near a protein.
