When Michael Widom hears ice clinking on the side of a tall, refreshing glass of water, it's music to his ears. Crystals of silicon—the stuff computers are made of—float on liquid silicon just as ice floats on water. The Carnegie Mellon physics professor has established evidence that the analogy extends deeper, claiming that both water and silicon possess "two" liquid states: one—the familiar high density liquid; the second—a mysterious low density liquid that has never been directly observed. If his findings are confirmed, it could lead to new ways of creating silicon for use in electronic devices.
—Camille Downing
