An oceanographer suggests that Jesus could have walked not on liquid water but rather on an isolated patch of floating ice on the surface. Professor Doron Nof of Florida State University and his colleagues explain how a bit of ice could have formed on the surface of the Sea of Galilee (AKA Lake Kinneret) during the cold periods that occurred 2,500-1,500 years ago. In 1992, Nof presented (PDF) a scientific explanation for how Moses may have appeared to part the Red Sea.) The latest research is presented in the current issue of the scientific publication Journal of Paleolimnology. (Link to PDF of the paper.) From Florida State University News:
LinkA frozen patch floating on the surface of the small lake would have been difficult to distinguish from the unfrozen water surrounding it. The unfrozen water was comprised of the plumes resulting from salty springs situated along the lake's western shore in Tabgha–an area where many archeological findings related to Jesus have been documented.
"As natural scientists, we simply explain that unique freezing processes probably happened in that region only a handful of times during the last 12,000 years," Nof said. "We leave to others the question of whether or not our research explains the biblical account."