Wednesday, October 05, 2011

NobelPrizeChemistry

Nobel Prize Chemistry 2011.

Crystals of golden proportions:
Daniel Shechtman received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals, perfectly ordered materials that never repeat themselves. 

The X-ray diffraction pattern reflects the atom positions in a crystal.
"It's all about symmetry".

The Discovery of Quasicrystals:
The atoms in the crystal in front of Shechtman yielded a forbidden symmetry. It was just as impossible as a football – a sphere – made of only sixcornered polygons. Since then, mosaics with intriguing patterns and the golden ratio in mathematics and art have helped scientists to explain Shechtman’s bewildering observation. 

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