Thunderstruck! A quasicrystal made by lightning

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk741

Keywords:

Quasicrystals, electrical discharge, lightning strike, minerals, meteorites

Abstract

A material with characteristics between crystal and glass has been accidentally created by an electrical discharge (likely a lightning strike) in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The material is a quasicrystal with 12-fold symmetry, impossible for ordinary crystals. Transient high-pressure and high-temperature conditions seem to ease the formation of quasicrystals in nature.

Author Biography

  • Luca Bindi, University of Florence

    Full Professor

Original article reference

Bindi, L., Pasek, M. A., Ma, C., Hu, J., Cheng, G., Yao, N., Asimow, P. D., & Steinhardt, P. J. (2023). Electrical discharge triggers quasicrystal formation in an eolian dune. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(1). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2215484119

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Published

2023-09-06

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 3 (2023): TheScienceBreaker

Section

Earth & Space

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Luca Bindi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.