A Quasi-Quasicrystal 121
An anonymous reader sends along a link to a mindbending article in Science News on quasicrystals — odd materials with a structure partway between order and disorder. Now researchers have found something even odder: a material that's partway between a quasicrystal and a regular crystal. The order in the new structure is provided by the Fibonacci sequence. It was constructed with plastic beads and laser beams, so no new materials science inventions are on the horizon. "'We are absolutely sure that this structure should have properties that are not usual,' Mikhael says, because materials with odd structures almost always do. Now they just have to figure out what those properties are."
Re:Anyone else find that quote hilarious? (Score:0, Interesting)
Re:Penrose tiling? (Score:3, Interesting)
Name? (Score:1, Interesting)
Quasiquasicrystal doesn't roll of the tongue...
Quasi is roughly the same as almost, right?
What is the latin equivalent of "Barely"?
Re:Anyone else find that quote hilarious? (Score:3, Interesting)
No.
But the Fibonacci sequence is fascinating.
This material is definitely odd. (Lets hope it can be related down atomic scale.)
The reason it makes a good insulator is the Fibonacci gaps. They make for discrete jumps like quantum jumps because there is no smooth path for electron 'energy bands' to follow.