Israeli Chemist Wins Nobel Prize For Quasicrystals

Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman won the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for his discovery of quasicrystals.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Shechtman's discovery in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter.

Contrary to the previous belief that atoms were arranged inside crystals in ordered, repeating patterns, Shechtman's discovery, made on April 8, 1982, showed that the atoms in a crystal could be packed in a pattern that could not be repeated, the academy said.

At the time, "such a pattern was considered just as impossible as creating a football using only six-cornered polygons, when a sphere needs both five- and six-cornered polygons," the academy said.

Schectman's finding forced scientists who study crystals to question a fundamental truth of their science.

The type of non-repeating patterns that follow mathematical rules seen in quasicrystals are also seen in tile mosaics across the Arabic world, most notably in buildings such as the Alhambra Palace in Spain and the Darb-i Imam Shrine in Iran. These patterns "have helped scientists understand what quasicrystals look like at the atomic level," the academy said.

Quasicrystals have been synthesized in laboratories around the world since their discovery in 1982, but it wasn't until 2009 that the first naturally-occurring quasicrystals were found.

They have also been found in some of the most durable kinds of steel in the world, and they are used in products such as razor blades and thin needles used in eye surgery. Scientists are also experimenting with using quasicrystals in surface coatings for frying pans, heat insulation in engines, and energy-saving LED lights.

Schectman's discovery was extremely controversial, the academy said. "In the course of defending his findings, he was asked to leave his research group. However, his battle eventually forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter," it said.

Shechtman, 70, is a professor of materials science at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. He will receive the 10 million kroner ($1.5 million) prize in December.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/05/141070380/israeli-chemist-wins-nobel-prize-for-quasicrystals?ft=1&f=1007

apple crisp recipe listeria symptoms listeria symptoms lsat teresa giudice bluegrass festival texas a m