For decades, quasicrystals — strange solids that blur the line between crystal and glass — have puzzled scientists. Unlike ordinary crystals, their atomic patterns never repeat, yet they remain highly ordered.
Now, researchers using the first-ever quantum-mechanical simulations of these materials have uncovered why they exist: they are fundamentally stable, not fleeting accidents of rapid cooling. The breakthrough resolves a 40-year-old scientific mystery and opens the door to engineering materials with unusual, rule-breaking properties.
