Why fish don't freeze in the Arctic Ocean

USA Today - Science Fair: Why fish don't freeze in the Arctic Ocean

Ever wonder how fish avoid becoming popsicles while swimming in Arctic water that can drop to -19 degrees? Scientists at Germany's Ruhr-University Bochum are figuring out how they do it.

The fish have proteins in their blood that protect them from frost. That's been long known, but scientists never understood how these anti-freeze proteins worked.

Now, using a technique called terahertz spectroscopy, scientists discovered that the proteins change the way water molecules behave in the blood. They "usually perform a permanent dance in liquid water, and constantly enter new bonds, (but) dance a more ordered dance in the presence of proteins," the researchers explain in a statement.

Put another way: "the disco dance becomes a minuet," says Dr. Martina Havenity of Ruhr-University Bochum. The change prevents ice from forming.

By Michelle Kessler