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Colloidal crystals assembled on the surface of a spherical water droplet contain 'scars', a macroscopic equivalent of conventional grain boundaries. Direct observation of these grain-boundary scars provides a new way of studying dislocation dynamics
Genetic algorithms prove useful to distil a complex quantum mechanical calculation of interatomic interactions down to its simplest mathematical expression. This makes it possible to predict the structure of new compounds from first principles.
The properties of most materials are intimately connected to the way in which they are ordered on the atomic scale. A new study suggests that in materials made from the regular three-dimensional arrangement of discrete nanocrystals, control of order and periodicity could be exploited at a whole new level.