Subscribe now

Letter: Solid mercury

Published 20 November 1999

From Andrew Gray

I read with interest your article on a “snowball” Earth
(6 November, p 28),
in which Gabrielle Walker states that “with the mercury barely topping –40
°C, only a few living things survive”.

This snowball Earth must have been a strange place indeed. In today’s world,
the mercury would have solidified at −39 °C.

Gairloch, Ross-shire

Issue no. 2213 published 20 November 1999

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop