An 'Impossible' Quasicrystal Was Forged in The World's First Nuclear Bomb Test

[Judi Lynn]

MICHELLE STARR 18 MAY 2021

At 5:29 am on the morning of 16 July 1945, in the state of New Mexico, a dreadful slice of history was made.

The dawn calm was torn asunder as the United States Army detonated a plutonium implosion device known as the Gadget - the world's very first test of a nuclear bomb, known as the Trinity test. This moment would change warfare forever.

The energy release, equivalent to 21 kilotons of TNT, vaporized the 30-metre test tower (98 ft) and miles of copper wires connecting it to recording equipment. The resulting fireball fused the tower and copper with the asphalt and desert sand below into green glass - a new mineral called trinitite.

Decades later, scientists have discovered a secret hidden in a piece of that trinitite - a rare form of matter known as a quasicrystal, once thought to be impossible.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-s-first-nuclear-bomb-test-forged-an-impossible-quasicrystal