The Fourth Phase of Water: Dr. Gerald Pollack at TEDxGuelphU
Does water have a fourth phase, beyond solid, liquid and vapor?
University of Washington Bioengineering Professor Gerald Pollack answers this question, and intrigues us to consider the implications of this finding. Not all water is
H2O, a radical departure from what you may have learned from textbooks.
Pollack received his PhD in biomedical engineering from the
University of Pennsylvania in
1968. He then joined the University of Washington faculty and is now professor of Bioengineering. His interests have ranged broadly, from biological motion and cell biology to the interaction of biological surfaces with aqueous solutions. His
1990 book,
Muscles and Molecules: Uncovering the Principles of Biological
Motion, won an "
Excellence Award" from the
Society for Technical Communication; his more recent book, Cells, Gels and the Engines of
Life, won that
Society's "Distinguished Award." Pollack received an honorary doctorate in
2002 from
Ural State University in
Ekaterinburg, Russia, and was more recently named an
Honorary Professor of the
Russian Academy of Sciences. He received the
Biomedical Engineering Society's Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2002. In 2008, he was the faculty member selected by the University of Washington faculty to receive their highest annual distinction: the Faculty Lecturer Award. Pollack is a Founding Fellow of the
American Institute of Medical and
Biological Engineering and a Fellow of both the
American Heart Association and the Biomedical Engineering Society. He is also Founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal, WATER, and has recently received an
NIH Transformative
R01 Award. He was the
2012 recipient of the
Prigogine Medal and in
2013 published his new book:
The Fourth Phase of
Water:
Beyond Solid,
Liquid, and
Vapor.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event,
TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized
TED event. The
TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*
Subject to certain rules and regulations)