As Isaac Asimov is often credited with
And in fact he has a short story for this.
IIRC it's something called "Thiotonite" and dissolves in water.
Except it will dissolve in water without water being present, if it has dissolved before.
A sort of "Temporal memory"
And IRL the classic physical example is NiTiNOL with it's "shape memory" (actually a range of Nicklel Titanium mixes).
I will raise a glass to this curious phenomena and wish them good luck explaining it (and exploiting it maybe).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
