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Molecules Spontaneously Form Honycomb

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the just-a-push-in-the-right-direction dept.

Science Daily is reporting that University of California Researchers have discovered a new process in which molecules assemble into complex patterns without any outside guidance. From the article: "Spreading anthraquinone, a common and inexpensive chemical, on to a flat copper surface, Greg Pawin, a chemistry graduate student working in the laboratory of Ludwig Bartels, associate professor of chemistry, observed the spontaneous formation of a two-dimensional honeycomb network comprised of anthraquinone molecules."

4 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Honeycombs Big? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Honeycombs Big?

    1. Re:Honeycombs Big? by slapyslapslap · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, no, no!

  2. Re:crystals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Leave some sodium and chlorine together and let the rest of the solution evaporate and you will spot a cubical arrangement of molecules. This concept is new?

    Yes, it is. The nifty part is the SIZE of the arrangement. If you bothered to read the article, you would notice that the hexagon pattern is in a very unusual size range.

  3. Re:Really cool, but surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    As cool as this is, what part of this is "news?"

    You must have missed this part:

    Anthraquinone molecules, however, form chains that weave themselves into a sheet of hexagons on the copper surface, forming a network similar to chicken wire.

    Obviously this is big news to farmers who raise little tiny chickens.