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USDA ARS
This is an image of a classic snow crystal viewed under the power of an electron microscope. May it serve as a reminder that snow is beautiful. Really.
With the gripes and groans piling up in the aftermath of the East Coast's first major blizzard of the season, let's remember that snow has a beautiful side, especially when studied under the power of magnification.
That's what the folks at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Electron Microscopy Unit do in the service of science and improving our daily lives. They've made these images of snowflakes available for our viewing pleasure. Above is a classic image, showing what we often think all snow crystals look like ... but magnified 162 times. Below are needle crystals, which are often associated with heavy snowfall in the Northeastern United States.
Needle crystals are often associated with heavy snowfall in the Northeastern U.S.
For more about these images, check out this amazing slideshow from Wired.com.
The up-close imagery may leave you asking that perennial question: Is it true that no two snowflakes are alike? As we explained in our list of 10 wonders from a winter wonderland, the answer depends on how alike "alike" is, and the definition of a snowflake.
The detailed answer is drawn from Caltech physicist Ken Libbrecht, whose snow crystal photography was honored with Sweden's Linnart Nilsson Award in October. You can check out more of Libbrecht's work here. And for still more flaky science, follow the links below to learn more about snowflakes and winter.
- The science behind snowflakes, in verse
- Visit a winter wonderland of science
- 10 more wonders for wintertime
- Snowflakes on Christmas cards drawn wrong
John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page or following msnbc.com's science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle).
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crystal formations have the unique way of creating beauty due to their perfect symmetry. imperfections would be a negative to the eye. good thing the magnetic fields cause this symmetry and not some fantasy gods
Your hate speech towards others' beliefs is both inappropriate and unnecessary. And no, I will not waste my time explaining to you the nature of God.
jb259: your angry response to bspurloc was unnessasary. Snowflakes are beautiful.
I would call that a snarky comment, not a hate speech. Seriously, there used to be standards for hate speeches. They used to be well thought out, long, and engaging. Now they're apparently three sentences long, lacking capitalization, and about snowflakes. ^__^
jb259, chill out, "nature of God" hahahaha, what-ever. Save your preaching for the fools at church.
Cool pictures. Reminds me a bit of Masaru Emoto's work in regards to the effects of music on ice crystals... but with much higher quality photography.
The center of the first picture reminds me somewhat of the hexagon phenomenon going on at Saturn's north pole - is there any chance of a large-scale version of this mechanism taking place there, given the cold temperatures at that distance from the Sun? I mention it since there's been much confusion about why it exists since that formation was discovered, mainly since it's rare to see a natural hexagon, so given the similarity here, it seemed logical that there could be a connection. Thanks.
The hexagon feature seen on Saturn's poles is actually a phenomenon seen in fluid dynamics and has been reproduced in the lab.
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/04/saturns-strange-hexagon-recreate.html?sms_ss=email
Thanks for the link - it was interesting to see that the results are being duplicated in the lab and a working explanation has been formulated; at the same time, it's a little bit of a let-down to have such a cool mystery already (apparently) solved, but such is the price of knowing :-)
The first image made me think of a PBS special I saw on fractal geometry. This shows that mathmatics is, indeed, beautiful.
What is a miracle? That we are here to ask the question.
And yet the Creator beleiver has to resort to name calling.
The geometry is perfect. It is also showing creation and if we studied the mathmatics behind this formation it will reveal the universal math of 3,6,9. The 9 is key to the universe. A circle is 360 just for starters. 3+6 is 9.
lolwuttaburger
incase u havent relized degres r jsut an abstract konkept dere valus r kompletely meaningless
I find snowflakes quite beautiful. I also find god and science to be beautiful instead of mutually exclusive.
Okay jb259, time for you to do your cut and paste.
genericname
Mai sassaucin ra'ayi dis nan foo' da 'mamula trippin foo' and baje nuna masterpieces ya ga Amurkawa al'adu a' Mun ne 'swanted ta illustrate yadda tambayoyi ya' tarihi a wayi gari yofintatta, baƙi ƙirin cikin the ya yi gumaka, dat iz canonical." shaafa the cakolan a the tururuwa ta rufe Yesu, and ɗan gaye Ai amfanin hoto akwai jerin mai tarihi wanda ya dat iz kuma abokan curator ya' and baje,
The circle and square relation is still not known to the educated.
Mai sassaucin ra'ayi dis nan foo' da 'mamula trippin foo' and baje nuna masterpieces ya ga Amurkawa al'adu a' Mun ne 'swanted ta illustrate yadda tambayoyi ya' tarihi a wayi gari yofintatta, baƙi ƙirin cikin the ya yi gumaka, dat iz canonical." shaafa the cakolan a the tururuwa ta rufe Yesu, and ɗan gaye Ai amfanin hoto akwai jerin mai tarihi wanda ya dat iz kuma abokan curator ya' and baje,
last years snowflakes photos were much better.
good thing i saved them.
I was cutting snowflakes like this out of paper over 30 years ago and no one said anything to me about how ingenius and mystical they appeared. Now all of a sudden, it's unique... nice job yet again MSNBC.
How beautiful they are! And if I want to believe they prove the existence of God, then that is my prerogative. I'd rather live like there is a God and find out there isn't one than to live like there isn't one and find out there is!
WHY?
Sudie, so you'd rather live a lie than be true to yourself? If you go before god and you truly don't believe 100% then you'll be cast into hell fire (because he's a loving god, of course hahaha) So why would I waste my time beliving in Santa Clause when I know he doesn't exist?
Sudie, I'm with you !
Jesus Christ said, "come unto Me, and I will give you rest"! God Almighty changed my heart supernaturally and powerfully! He is real! Jesus Christ split time, "AD-BC" to deny God and creation is just a smokescreen so one can enjoy their sins, they belong to their father, "the devil"! But you can be adopted into God's glorious light! God is better than any drug or drink or women I had when I still in darkness. God is #1. God is my Hero! Repent and believe in the good news, everyone of you, that days of refreshing will come. Blessings.........<//><
Amen, Michael!
Michael, words, boring words. Where is your god? Where is your god with all the suffering going on in the world? He's in your head, nowhere else but in you head. Not that the representation of a "guiding light" isn't a good thing, but you don't need a false god to be a good person. Let's be real to ourselves and each other.
www.rockymountainministries.net
Beerjoust, you should do a little homework before questioning a believer in God. Where is your God with all of the suffering going on in the world? The suffering is going because of us not God. We have the power of choice and that is why there is suffering not because God doesn't want to help. I believe that was one of the first gifts given to us, the power to make our own minds up and because of that the world is in the state it is in.
Sometimes I have to ask what explodes in the minds of some commentors. A picture of a snow flake incites wriiten violence towards others.
After reading the religious cheap shots pro and con, I'm truly surprised that cheapshots havent been taken at politicians past or present. All over pictures of snowflakes
Sometimes I have to ask what explodes in the minds of some commentors. A picture of a snow flake incites wriiten violence towards others.
After reading the religious cheap shots pro and con, I'm truly surprised that cheapshots havent been taken at politicians past or present. All over pictures of snowflakes
I havent seen any hate speach, or words of violence. Just because folks disagree dosent mean they hate one another. Maybe some are just easily offended.
It's nice to have a reminder of the beauty of snowflakes.
Caltech has a website devoted to snowflakes. They explain the study, the physics, and have a primer for us less scientific types and several photo galleries.
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/
The universe is held up by elephants at the four corners, or snowflakes, or energy as expended by all the commentators here... I say thanks for showing me the snowflake, thanks for this site. Who would not be pleased to see the snowflake? The universe celebrates itself!
Questions about a Snowflake
There are those that look at snow and see bitter cold. There are those that look at the same snow and see incredible beauty.
Some will look at the mystery - find it complex, and because it is complex and beyond their comprehension - see God. Others will look for an explanation to the complexity and the formation and even though it is complex - If they ask why... If they question what they see... they will come away with a better understanding of the beauty and how it formed.
For those that wonder...
Some find answers without knowing in faith.
Others find answers in what they learn and what they know.
Everything about science can be explained by God and everything about God can be explained by science.
Reminds of when they looked at the Andromeda Strain under the electron microscope.