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> "a quasicrystal — a kind of matter scientists once thought impossible that challenges traditional ideas about how solids form" Whenever I read a phrase about
by emptybits 5mo ago
> "a quasicrystal — a kind of matter scientists once thought impossible that challenges traditional ideas about how solids form"
Whenever I read a phrase about scientists observing something they thought was impossible ... I get really excited for scientists in that field! :-)
- kridsdale1 5mo agoScience advances one “huh, that’s weird” at a time.
- spoll 5mo agoThere's a wonderful book by one of the discoverers of quasicrystals, Paul Steinhardt, called "The second kind of impossible" which is a fantastic read and full of the excitement you alluded to. Very accessible and enjoyable.
- pseudohadamard 5mo agoJust a note, clathrates in general aren't rare or exotic at all, in fact methane clathrates are estimated in the million-cubic-km range. It's this specific type of clathrate, created under exotic circumstances, that's unusual.