Quasicrystals are mosaic-like arrangements of atoms that have symmetries once thought to be impossible for crystals to adopt1. Primarily observed in certain metal alloys, these unusual structures are stronger and less deformable than analogous regular crystals, and have unusual frictional, catalytic and optical properties. Several applications have been proposed for quasicrystals - for example, some could be used as materials for photonic circuits. But for this application to be realized, the atomic dimensions of a quasicrystal must first be scaled up almost 1,000-fold. On page 501 of this issue, Mikhael et al. describe quasicrystals at just such a scale, made from microscopic plastic beads. To their surprise, they also discovered a new kind of structure: a rare type of one-dimensional quasicrystal that can be thought of as a cross between a two-dimensional quasicrystal and a regular crystal.
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