Based on detailed studies of the spatial structures of vital molecules and the results of ultra-high-speed studies of water on super-cooled surfaces, water on the lipid surfaces of proteins and ionic surfaces of nucleic acids appears to form transient linear elements of hydration in ice-like cubic conformations. Since the linear elements last only about a million millionth of a second, they are not there long enough to establish thermodynamic equilibria but long enough to be detected spectroscopically and affect the motions and interactions of neighboring molecules. By defining probability positions for water molecules on their surfaces, vital molecules appear to provide order in living cells.
