Frost ecologies

A gallery of the fern-like structures that bloom on sea ice form when it's cold, still and dry.

The gallery was published on the occasion of an article on frost flowers, which explores the research of the OASIS project, which pursues key big-picture science issues regarding air-surface chemical interactions in the Arctic, and their evolution in future climates

Perhaps Constance Penhallow was right all along. As her grandson, Hunter recalled:

"When his grandmother was a girl, she told him once, the sisters announced in school one day that the topic of study would be Living Creatures. 'I suggested ice. They threw me out of class.' "

Source: http://www.newscientist.com