Paul Steinhardt of Princeton University and Luca Bindi of the University of Florence have discovered an entirely unique type of naturally-existing material called the quasicrystal in a meteorite found in Khatyrka region of Russia.
Quasicrystal consists of an entirely unique atomic structure that combines the symmetrical properties of a crystal and the chaos of an amorphous solid. These crystals aren't just incredible because of how rare they are - their atomic structure of aluminium, copper and iron is so peculiar that their existence was dismissed as "impossible".
This is the third quasicrystal found in grains of this particular meteorite so far, which suggests that there might be more out there, and with even stranger structures.
"What is encouraging is that we have already found three different types of quasicrystals in the same meteorite, and this new one has a chemical composition that has never been seen for a quasicrystal," one of the team, Paul Steinhardt from Princeton University, told Becky Ferreira at Motherboard.
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When the researchers examined the composition of the new quasicrystal, they confirmed that it was made from a combination of aluminium, copper, and iron atoms, all arranged like the pentagon-based pattern on a soccer ball. This is the first time this particular composition has ever been found in nature.
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