In 1982, materials scientist Dan Shechtman observed an unusual tenfold symmetry in an aluminum-manganese alloy, defying the ...

For decades, relaxor ferroelectrics have powered everything from medical ultrasounds to sonar systems, yet their inner atomic ...

In a process analogous to how solids melt into liquids, the electrons in many different metals form crystal-like patterns ...

In 1912, scientists invented X-ray crystallography and revealed a crystal’s atomic structure for the first time Tess Joosse Humans have marveled at crystals for millennia. Viridescent emerald, rich ...

One longstanding problem has sidelined life-saving drugs, stalled next-generation batteries, and kept archaeologists from identifying the origins of ancient artifacts. For more than 100 years, ...

Scientists have demonstrated that atoms can exhibit wave-like behavior, challenging long-held assumptions that experiments of this nature were impossible and opening new doors in quantum physics. The ...

This page contains hints, solutions, and advanced challenges for our diffraction grating challenge. If you would like a grating (or a set for your class if you are a teacher), please contact us at ...

Visual demonstration of the performance of the diffraction grating. The zeroth order transmission refers to light that goes straight through the grating without undergoing diffraction (which should be ...

A pattern of distorted lines is visible as a reflection in this close-up view of a human eye. By observing the deformation of illumination patterns reflected off the eye's surface, researchers in ...