Ripple effect
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/notebook_mysterysolved_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
SALTY SHAPES Frozen alone, distilled water produced an unrippled, carrot-shaped icicle (left). When scientists added a pinch of sodium chloride, or table salt, to the freezing water, regularly spaced ripples formed (center). Adding more salt made the ripples become wildly irregular (right).
A. Szu-Han Chen and S.W. Morris/New J. of Physics 2013