Related: we also don't really know how ice skates work, at least not in detail.
It comes up every winter here when it starts freezing and people want to leave out water for the birds. I can't help to urge people to just try it instead of simply believing it. I.e., it's not that I don't believe it's impossible under certain specific circumstances, but having tried it myself a number of times and the result always being that the cold water freezes first, it's pretty clear to me that it's a bit silly to just dismiss using warm water.