It occurred to me: our planet should perhaps be called Water, not Earth.
Not only because three quarters of its surface is water and only one quarter is land, but also because 75% of the human body is water.
Because water is the only inanimate substance that has memory and remembers…
The most important thing is that water enables life, thanks to its anomalous property – the anomaly of water.
Our planet is mostly water, we are mostly water, and for life to be possible, water resorts to anomalous behavior and “bends” the laws of physics (for example, a visible barrier sometimes appears between oceans, although the law of diffusion says otherwise).
All of this belongs to the somewhat mysterious stories about water. The phases of the Moon cause tides, but they also affect the human body. That is why we say: the Moon influences people – but in fact, it influences the water within them.
One of the key properties is the anomaly of water.
This shows that the anomaly of water is not a coincidence, but a deliberate “adjustment” – a sign that someone very wise, when creating life on Earth, knew exactly how it would function and gave water this special property so that life on our planet would be possible.
What is the anomaly of water?
Normally, we would expect substances to contract as they cool, with density increasing. However, water behaves differently:
•It has its maximum density at +4 °C.
•When it cools below that temperature, it begins to expand instead of contract.
•That is why ice floats on water instead of sinking.
We know that almost all substances behave the same way:
•when heated – they expand,
•when cooled – they contract.
Water behaves the same, except within the temperature interval of 0 to 4 °C, when it behaves the opposite way. Proof of this is that ice, being colder than water, should have a smaller volume than water. Yet, when we pour water into a bottle and it freezes, the bottle cracks because ice has a larger volume – meaning it behaves the opposite way.
How does this make life possible?
1.Protection of aquatic ecosystems
•If ice sank, lakes and seas would gradually freeze from the bottom up in winter – and all life in water would disappear.
•Thanks to the anomaly, ice remains on the surface and acts as an insulator.
•Water under the ice stays at +4 °C, allowing fish and other organisms to survive.
2.Climate regulation
•Because of this property, water absorbs and releases large amounts of heat while its temperature changes slowly.
•It stabilizes the temperature of oceans and lakes.
•It reduces climate extremes on Earth.
3.Circulation of nutrients
•In lakes, circulation occurs in spring and autumn (when surface water passes through the +4 °C point and sinks, while warmer or colder water rises).
•This mixing brings nutrients from the bottom to the surface and enables the development of life.
4.Biological significance
•Water in the cells of organisms, thanks to this property, protects tissues from complete freezing.
•Ice forms crystals only at lower temperatures, while most organisms can withstand short-term fluctuations.
In short: without the anomaly of water, Earth would have frozen oceans, an unstable climate, and life as we know it would not exist.
Memory of water
Water exhibits the property of so-called memory – the ability to retain traces of substances and influences it has been exposed to. This property is linked to its bipolar structure: water molecules can organize themselves into different patterns that remain stable for some time.
Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto demonstrated that water crystals formed during freezing take different shapes depending on the stimulus to which the water was exposed:
•when exposed to classical music or positive words, the crystals were regular, symmetrical, and aesthetically beautiful,
•when exposed to negative sounds, screams, or noise, the crystals formed irregular, cloudy, and deformed shapes.
If we consider that the human body is about 75% water, it is clear that sounds, words, and vibrations from the environment also affect humans. The water in our body reacts similarly to water in experiments, which may explain why certain tones and atmospheres affect our mood and health.
And many other properties of water prove that it is essential for life on our planet:
Capillarity of water
Capillarity is the ability of water to rise or fall in narrow tubes or pores without external forces. It arises from a combination of:
•adhesion – attraction of water molecules to the walls of the tube,
•cohesion – mutual attraction of water molecules.
Capillarity allows water to move through the roots and stems of plants to the leaves, and also through blood capillaries in the human body, without pumps. This is a key process in transporting nutrients in living organisms and maintaining life on Earth.
Surface tension of water
Surface tension results from strong hydrogen bonds between water molecules. Molecules on the water’s surface have greater mutual attraction, creating an “elastic layer” that resists external forces.
Because of surface tension:
•insects such as water striders can walk on water,
•water droplets maintain an almost perfect spherical shape,
•water behaves as if it has a thin “skin” on its surface.
These two phenomena together – capillarity and surface tension – show how water’s properties connect the micro and macro world: from the movement of sap in plants to the behavior of entire ecosystems.
High specific heat
Water has a very high heat capacity. That is why oceans and seas heat up and cool down slowly, which stabilizes Earth’s climate and prevents extreme temperature changes.
Universal solvent
Water is known as the “universal solvent” because it can dissolve more substances than any other liquid. This is crucial for the biochemistry of life – nutrients, minerals, and gases can be transported through our body and ecosystems.
Triple state in nature
Water is one of the rare substances that naturally occurs on Earth in all three states of matter: solid (ice), liquid, and gas (vapor). This is connected to its specific thermodynamic properties.
Everything I have listed explains why it makes more sense for our planet to be called Water.
