CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Scientists discover new ‘quasicrystal’ in Nebraska, US: What are quasicrystals? Scientists have discovered a new type of quasicrystal, one with 12-fold symmetry, in the Sand Hills of north central Nebraska, USA, according to a recent study.

Detailed explanation-2: -The achievement of Dan Shechtman is clearly not only the discovery of quasicrystals, but the realization of the importance of this result and the determination to communicate it to a skeptical scientific community. Figure 4. Original electron diffraction images taken by Dan Shechtman.

Detailed explanation-3: -Quasicrystals are found most often in aluminium alloys (Al-Li-Cu, Al-Mn-Si, Al-Ni-Co, Al-Pd-Mn, Al-Cu-Fe, Al-Cu-V, etc.), but numerous other compositions are also known (Cd-Yb, Ti-Zr-Ni, Zn-Mg-Ho, Zn-Mg-Sc, In-Ag-Yb, Pd-U-Si, etc.).

Detailed explanation-4: -Quasicrystals were discovered by Dan Shechtman in 1982, for which he received the 2011 Nobel prize in chemistry (though it took 2 years to get his paper published) (Shechtman et al., 1984). They are materials that have long-range orientational order but no translational symmetry.