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.

In exploring how crystals form, the researchers also came across an unusual, rod-shaped crystal that hadn’t been identified before, naming it “Zangenite” for the NYU graduate student who discovered it ...

Many microbes wear beautifully patterned crystalline shells, which protect them from a harsh world and can even help them reel in food. Now scientists have zoomed in on the very first step in ...

Snowflakes are like letters from the sky, each crystal a note describing the atmosphere as it falls to the ground. They float effortlessly, but their creation is one of nature’s most complicated ...

A chance discovery in an old German book may have overturned our understanding of how crystals grow. The defining feature of a crystal is that it is composed of a pattern of atoms that repeats in all ...

At the heart of ice crystals, often, are aerosol particles onto which ice can form more easily than in the open air. It's a bit mysterious how this happens, though. New research shows how crystals of ...

Bright patches of light, known as sun dogs, appear when sunlight bends through hexagonal ice crystals in high-altitude clouds ...

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 ...