Imperfections can be lifesavers

Water drop, blue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While in college, I took an introduction course into nuclear engineering. As part of the class, we visited a small reactor owned and operated by the university. Within the facility stood a deep tankfilled with water required for regulating the reaction. The entire tankwas illuminated by a series of lights embedded in itswalls making the water glow like a sapphire in the sun.In addition to the striking color, I also noticed how very still the water was...