Daily Online News

When you picture a snowflake, you probably envision a six-sided shape. Because of the angle of the bonds between hydrogen and oxygen in water , that geometry is greatly favored over other forms. However, snowflakes come in other shapes besides hexagons. For example, there is pentagonal ice . A team of scientists led by the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) discovered a linear chain built from ice pentagons. The chains were formed on a nanoscale across a flat copper surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy was used to image them. While you shouldn't expect to see pentagonal snowflakes any time soon, the research might be used to find new materials to initiate nucleation of water to form clouds and precipitation and also to better-understand how these processes occur naturally.

Some of the most beautiful crystals are made entirely of pure metal elements. For example, this dainty crystal is a crystal of pure gold. Metal crystals often have lacy or interesting geometric structures. You can view other types of metal crystals in the Metal Crystal Photo Gallery .

March 6 th is Joseph von Fraunhofer's birthday. Fraunhofer was a German physicist who discovered thin dark bands while investigating the sun's spectrum. Bunsen and Kirchhoff later discovered that they corresponded to the wavelengths of the absorption of common elements like hydrogen, helium and iron. The energy from the sun would pass through the upper layers of the sun and get absorbed, causing the dark lines. These lines are now known as "Fraunhofer lines" in his honor.

I'm in the airport awaiting a flight to Alaska to see the sights and try out some science projects that only work when it's really cold. Of course, at the top of my list of things to do is to watch and photograph the aurora borealis. March is a perfect month to view the lights in Alaska because the nights are still long and often clear and for some reason, the aurora seems to do well close to the equinox. We're also near the peak of the solar cycle, so chances are good I'll enjoy the northern lights. I'll be posting pictures of my adventures, so stay tuned!