Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. New simulations show ice stays slippery in deep cold because its crystal structure breaks down under motion, not because it melts.

The reason we can gracefully glide on an ice-skating rink or clumsily slip on an icy sidewalk is that the surface of ice is coated by a thin watery layer. Scientists generally agree that this ...

Christine Ruff’s husband, Justin Ruff, built a backyard ice rink in Arnold that their three daughters have been skating on this week. According to Christine, “He has a construction background, and ...

For centuries, people believed ice was slippery because pressure and friction melted a thin film of water. But new research from Saarland University reveals that this long-standing explanation is ...

Common household waste, like sawdust and used coffee grounds, can make effective salt substitutes. Sand and cat litter can increase traction on slippery surfaces when salt is not available. Improve ...

Jeremy Barrick has what so many hockey parents contemplating a backyard ice rink want: advice from the pros who have to make outdoor ice every year. Barrick, who works at the Minneapolis Park and ...

[CLIP: Skates cut across the ice at an ice rink, and music plays in the background.] Kendra Pierre-Louis: So we’re out here today in lower Manhattan ice-skating. There are lots of kids skating around, ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. The reason we can gracefully glide on an ice-skating rink or clumsily slip on an icy sidewalk is that the surface of ice is coated by a ...

When you step onto an icy sidewalk or push off on skis, the surface can seem to vanish beneath you. For more than a century, scientists have debated why ice stays slippery, even well below freezing.