Scientifically speaking, the term “crystal” refers to any solid that has an ordered chemical structure. This means that its parts are arranged in a precisely ordered pattern, like bricks in a wall.

Crystals -- from sugar and table salt to snowflakes and diamonds -- don't always grow in a straightforward way. Researchers have now captured this journey from amorphous blob to orderly structures. In ...

Geologists have known for decades that gold forms in quartz with the help of earthquakes, but now they have worked out exactly how the setting and seismic waves combine to form large nuggets. When you ...

Christopher Voisey receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia. Humanity’s fascination with gold stretches back thousands of years.

Crystals—from sugar and table salt to snowflakes and diamonds—don't always grow in a straightforward way. New York University researchers have captured this journey from amorphous blob to orderly ...