If you would like to learn more about the IAEA’s work, sign up for our weekly updates containing our most important news, multimedia and more. About three percent of the Earth's water is freshwater.

We all know the ingredients for water. You take two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen, moosh them together just so, and voila – you have a molecule of the most important compound to life on Earth.

TL;DR: Researchers from Northwestern University have observed the formation of a water molecule on the nanoscale for the first time. Using palladium to catalyze the reaction, they witnessed hydrogen ...