Imagine building a Lego tower with perfectly aligned blocks. Each block represents an atom in a tiny crystal, known as a quantum dot. Just like bumping the tower can shift the blocks and change its ...

In a surprising twist, researchers have identified crystals that are symmetrical but nevertheless absorb light as if they were chiral (Science 2025, DOI: 10.1126/science.adr5478). The discovery ...

Nature keeps a few secrets. While plenty of structures with low symmetry are found in nature, scientists have been confined to high-symmetry designs when synthesizing colloidal crystals, a valuable ...

Researchers learn to predict how crystals take shape from their internal chemistry, even when the crystal lacks symmetry. A crystal's shape is determined by its inherent chemistry, a characteristic ...

Artistic illustration of lead sulfide quantum dots as they undergo structural changes when exposed to light, with lead atoms temporarily shifting to a new position. Credit: Cotts Lab at Middlebury ...