Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • Educational Assets
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Fungus Responsible for Hair Ice Identified

By R&D Editors | July 24, 2015

Image: Christian MatzlerHair ice is a whimsical thing. It grows on the rotting branches of certain trees, with grouped strands of silk-like hair protruding from the wood. Conditions must be ripe for formation, usually humid winter nights when air temperatures dip below the freezing level. Researchers call it a “somewhat rare and fleeting phenomenon.”     

Physicist Christian Mätzler, of the Institute of Applied Physics at Switzerland’s Univ. of Bern, was ambling through the forest the first time he stumbled upon hair ice. The sight inspired awe, and he was spurred to investigate the phenomenon.

On July 22, Mätzler and his colleagues published their research identifying the fungus responsible for hair ice’s growth in Biogeosciences, confirming an almost 100-year-old hypothesis.

The research paper combines the experiments and research done by Mätzler, German biologist Gisela Preuss and Swiss chemist Diana Hofmann. By studying wood samples collected over three winter seasons from western forests in Germany, Preuss found and identified 11 species of fungi colonizing the wood. However, Exidiopsis effusa was present in all the samples; and in more than half the samples, it was the only species of fungi present.

Meanwhile, Mätzler was prodding into the physics behind hair ice. “He found, confirming the guesses by other researchers, that the driving  mechanism responsible for producing ice filaments at the wood surface is ice segregation,” according to the European Geosciences Union. “Liquid water near the branch surface freezes in contact with cold air, creating an ice front and ‘sandwiching’ a thin water film between this ice and the wood pores. Suction resulting from repelling intermolecular forces … then gets the water inside the wood pores to move towards the ice front, where it freezes and adds to the existing ice.”

“Melted hair indicated the presence of organic matter,” the researchers wrote. And “treatment by heat and fungicide suppresses the formation of hair ice.”

Hoffman studied the water from melted hair ice and found, via chemical analysis, the complex organic compounds lignin and tannin. The find is further confirmation of the biological influence on hair ice.  

Hair ice was observed by German geologist Alfred Wegener, who is known for his continental drift theory, in 1918. According to James R. Carter, of Illinois State Univ.’s Georgraphy-Geology Dept., Wegener “assumed the ice was associated with fungus evident on the dead wood but he was not able to identify the fungus.” 

The team’s find puts Wegener’s speculation to rest.

• CONFERENCE AGENDA ANNOUNCED:

The highly-anticipated educational tracks for the 2015 R&D 100 Awards & Technology Conference feature 28 sessions, plus keynote speakers Dean Kamen and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason.  Learn more.

Related Articles Read More >

How IBM’s quantum architecture could design materials physics can’t yet explain
White House fast-tracks nuclear R&D while mandating ‘gold standard science’
LLNL deposits quantum dots on corrugated IR chips in a single step
Aardvark AI forecasts rival supercomputer simulations while using over 99.9% less compute
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • Educational Assets
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE