Nick Baker takes a look at the weird phenomenon that produces hair ice, a rare winter wonder formed by a bit of alchemy magic <\/p>
At <\/span>first glance hair ice doesn\u2019t look like much. But against the dark, mouldering litter of wind-fallen twigs, branches and leaves, a pearly luminescence catches the curious eye, drawing you in for a closer look. Only then do you notice the wispy weirdness. A fluff that looks more fabric than ice, a perfectly coiffured beard of fine threads radiating out from the dead wood. What could it be\u2026 fibre-optic candyfloss?<\/span><\/p>\n This is exactly how it happened for me one crisp winter day in the Scottish Highlands. It was a moment right up there with more obviously exciting encounters I\u2019ve had with eagles and dolphins. But why is hair ice so rare, or indeed relevant to this column? After all, it\u2019s just ice, right? Well, technically, no.<\/p>\n Hair ice is most often seen on a winter\u2019s morning, having grown the previous night on rotting wood. It only occurs when several other factors are just right: moisture, atmospheric conditions and temperature. And there has to be a secret extra ingredient \u2013 a fungus called Exidiopsis effusa<\/i>.<\/p>\n Rather brilliantly, this micro magic was first discovered by Alfred Wegener, the same man who noticed continental drift, one of Earth\u2019s most macro phenomena. In 1918, he spotted that wood that hosted this strange ice had a delicate filigree of cottony fibres on its surface \u2013 the mycelial threads of a fungus \u2013 and postulated that this was relevant to the ice formation.<\/p>\nWhat is hair ice?<\/h2>\n
How is hair ice formed?<\/h2>\n