When lightning strikes, sand can fuse into textured tube structures, such as the fulgurites shown above. In 2008 a storm led to the formation of one such fulgurite in a sand dune in north-central Nebraska. In the intervening 15 years, researchers have investigated the sample to understand its composition. A new study finds that, in addition to the typical silicate glass, the fulgurite contains a region that’s a dodecagonal quasicrystal.
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