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.

Researchers at Kumamoto University have discovered that a purely inorganic crystal grown from water solution can emit circularly polarized light, a special form of light whose "handedness" ...

Water doesn’t behave the same way in a glass as it does as ice in your freezer. When water is heated to several thousand ...

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 ...

Starfish embryos can organise themselves into large, oscillating crystals at the surface of water. These structures, which had never been seen before, may form because of the embryos’ swimming style ...