[meteorite-list] Oddball 'Crystal' Survived Crash to Earth Inside Meteorite

From: Shawn Alan <shawnalan_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:13:20 -0700
Message-ID: <20150318151320.e8713c95af9984a493c5db01816d4c10.d1e688b644.wbe_at_email22.secureserver.net>

Hello Listers

Let hope some fossils will survive from Mars :)

Enjoy!

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html
Website http://meteoritefalls.com

Oddball 'Crystal' Survived Crash to Earth Inside Meteorite
by Elizabeth Howell, Live Science Contributor | March 18, 2015
07:53am ET

A bizarre crystal-like mineral recently found in a meteorite that
crashed to Earth perhaps 15,000 years ago adds more support for the idea
that the fragile structure can survive in nature. But how it formed at
the beginnings of the solar system is still a mystery.

The newfound mineral is called a "quasicrystal" because it resembles a
crystal, but the atoms are not arranged as regularly as they are in real
crystals. The quasicrystal hitched a ride to Earth on a meteorite that
zipped from space through Earth's atmosphere and crashed to the ground.
That process is generally a violent one that heats up the insides of
rocks, making the delicate quasicrystal's survival a surprise.

"The difference between crystals and quasicrystals can be visualized by
imagining a tiled floor," said according to a statement by Princeton
University in a press release. "Tiles that are six-sided hexagons can
fit neatly against each other to cover the entire floor. But five-sided
pentagons or 10-sided decagons laid next to each will result in gaps
between tiles."

Source:
http://www.livescience.com/50167-quasicrystal-survived-meteorite-crash.html
Received on Wed 18 Mar 2015 06:13:20 PM PDT