Science Alert January 30, 2023
An international team of researchers (Italy, University of South Florida, Caltech, Princeton University) report the discovery of a dodecagonal quasicrystal Mn72.3Si15.6Cr9.7Al1.8Ni0.6—composed of a periodic stacking of atomic planes with quasiperiodic translational order and 12-fold symmetry along the two directions perpendicular to the planes. They found it in a fulgurite consisting predominantly of fused and melted sand along with traces of melted conductor metal from a nearby downed power line. According to the researcher fulgurite may have been created by a lightning strike that combined sand with material from downed power line or from electrical discharges from the downed power line alone. It reached temperatures of at least 1,710 °C as indicated by the presence of SiO2 glass in the sample. The dodecagonal quasicrystal is an example of a quasicrystal of any kind formed by electrical discharge, suggesting other places to search for quasicrystals on Earth or in space and for synthesizing them in the laboratory…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
A cross section of the Sandhills fulgurite (left) and a scanning electron microscopy image of it (right). CREDIT: PNAS, December 27, 2022, 120 (1) e221548411919