Until 2009, the only known quasicrystals were synthetic, having formed exclusively in laboratory experiments. Then came the news that a quasicrystal had been discovered inside a rock from far eastern Russia. Subsequent studies showed that the rock was a piece of a rare meteorite (known as Khatyrka). At present, the only known examples of natural quasicrystals come from the Khatyrka meteorite. Does this mean that these exotic materials must be extremely rare in the Universe? During this talk, the author will take the audience on a cosmic-scale excursion ranging from pre-solar materials, through nuclear test debris to recently formed fulgurites. We will present several reasons that quasicrystals could prove to be among the most ubiquitous minerals found in the Universe. The author will also discuss how quasicrystals are an example of how sometimes being too uncritical of conventional wisdom can hinder research and progress in understanding the wonders of this world and beyond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Until 2009, the only known quasicrystals were synthetic, having formed exclusively in laboratory experiments. Then came the news that a quasicrystal had been discovered inside a rock from far eastern Russia. Subsequent studies showed that the rock was a piece of a rare meteorite (known as Khatyrka). At present, the only known examples of natural […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":26929,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tipologia_evento":[388,385],"anno_edizione":[386],"tag_evento_festival":[412,403],"class_list":["post-28547","eventi_festival","type-eventi_festival","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tipologia_evento-conferenza","tipologia_evento-presentazione-di-libro","anno_edizione-386","tag_evento_festival-09-nov-2023","tag_evento_festival-ingresso-libero"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n