It's not true that this water lubricates the flow of the glacier, it really does. It weakens the structure beneath so that it's collapsing. So think of it as like when you're making a if you have a little tunnel, but then the water itself is the drill that made the tunnel and you have more water coming through the tunnel. We're screwed people.
What makes ice slippery? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly uncover the complex physics of ice and cool facts we’re still learning about it with physicist and author, Laurie Winkless.
NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/slippery-science-the-physics-of-ice/
Photo Credit: Sharon Mollerus, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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