12-29
12-29. Diamond(b) #06
From a resource by T. Hom, W. Kiszenick, and B. Post.
December
Platinum (2), Hematite, Vanadinite, Diamond (2)
12-25
12-25. Diamond(b) #02
From a resource by M. Straumanis and E. Aka.
12-24
12-24. Diamond(b) #01
Last week of the Geometry of Nature project!
I started this project Jan 1st, 2017 with the mineral diamond. 52 weeks later, I thought it would be interesting to end with the same mineral. There are many reasons why diamond is so popular. One for me would be its incredibly well-composed geometry and its shine. How will this compare with the first week of the project? Who knows, life is a progression.
The name diamond comes from the ancient Greek – adámas “unbreakable”. A good omen to start a new year, as it proved for the project. I don’t believe I missed more than 2 or 3 deadlines in this 365 days marathon, and I stayed focused through thick and thin on this incredible journey of discovery of Nature, geometry, and geometry in nature.
Interesting to know, the largest diamond found in the universe so far, BPM 37093, is located 50 light-years (4.7×1014 km) away in the constellation Centaurus. The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics describes the 2,500-mile (4,000 km)-wide stellar core as a diamond. Next year journey maybe?
12-23
12-23. Piypite #07
A strange but colorful and lively week! Piypite may be a rare and tiny mineral, its geometry is unexpectedly inspiring. All the more that I used only two resources in a rotation for these last seven days.
Credit should go to Effenberger & Zemann, Kahlenberg, Piotrowski & Giester, and of course to the program VESTA for bringing life to such interesting data.
12-22
12-22. Piypite #06
That’s what a GoogleEarth view of a Piypite turf may look like. From up above, this crystal has a very peaceful geometry.
12-21
12-21. Piypite #05
Between origami and tangram – the Piypite crystal unit cell definitely carries some Eastern flavor with it. Maybe its tetragonal pyramidal shape and the very complex body-centered 14 symmetry of its atoms help too.
From a resource by V. Kahlenberg, A. Piotrowski A, and G. Giester.
12-20
12-20. Piypite #04
Piypite tiling.
The tetragonal structure of the crystal makes for very dynamic patterns. I moved the atoms in the background this time – too many of them, too distracting! Opposites attract each other, someone said. Is this a natural way to confirm the suggestion? Hundreds of unruly atoms in a clean, elegant, well-balanced geometry.
The two work well together to develop small but lovely grass-like green blades.
12-19
12-19. Piypite #03
Astroturf is the first thought that came to my mind looking at this piypite profile! I don’t know if the artificial grass was inspired by the crystal atomic make—up, but its vivid and colorful DayGlow arrangement would make for a good candidate.
3,504 atoms, 1,344 bonds, 448 polyhedra came in that work. Enough to fill a small ball field?
From a resource by H. Effenberger and J. Zemann.
Piypite glass blade
12-18. Piypite #2.
Quite a complex architecture to build a tiny mineral glass blade!
From a resource by V. Kahlenberg, A. Piotrowski, and G. Giester.
12-17
12-17. Piypite #1.
This is what it takes for nature to create a mineral grass blade!
Piypate is a very unusual mineral that grows in tiny green crystal blades bunch. It was first found in 1982 in the confine of Russia by the sea of Bering, very close to China and Japan. Some Piypite has also been found near Napoli, Italy, since. It’s named after Boris Ivanovich Piyp, vulcanologist, and past director of the Russian Far Eastern Institute of Volcanology.
This tetragonal-pyramidal mineral contains copper, oxygen, potassium, and sulfur. I mention its chemical composition because last week, green atoms (CI-Chlorine) were prevalent in the Vanadinite crystal and gave us a warm, red mineral. This week red atoms (O- Oxygen) create a green crystal. Nature has a way to handle color that we still have a lot to learn from!
