So I've run into something that I wanted to know more about. I've recently been making some holiday ornaments from Sculpey an oven bake-able polymer clay. I have some parts that needed sanding, and the accumulated dust was getting a bit bothersome, so I brought a bowl of water in so I could wash my hands when it built up. After washing one time, a drop of the water landed on some of the dust on the sandpaper and formed into a nice small sphere, coated in the dust. It rolls around quite ably, and acts like a solid. Bisecting it with a knife makes two spheres. Squishing it with my finger causes it to act like regular water, its spherical form permanently destroyed.

So what the hell is going on here?