Scientists Discover Crystals That Spin, Twist, and Heal Themselves

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Scientists Discover Crystals That Spin, Twist, and Heal Themselves


These newly discovered spinning crystals twist, break, and heal themselves, revealing a strange new side of solid matter.


It may seem hard to believe, but crystals made from spinning components are real. Researchers from Aachen, Düsseldorf, Mainz, and Wayne State University have examined these unusual materials and uncovered a range of surprising behaviors. The crystals can easily split into separate pieces, form unusual internal boundaries, and develop defects that researchers can deliberately influence. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the team describes how a unified theoretical approach can be used to predict new properties in systems governed by what are known as “transverse interaction” forces.

Transverse Forces in Materials and Living Systems

“Transverse forces” are not limited to laboratory materials. They can appear in engineered systems such as certain magnetic solids, but they have also been observed in living organisms. In an experiment carried out at MIT, scientists studied groups of starfish embryos and found that their swimming motions affected one another. This interaction caused the embryos to move in circular paths around each other. While the biological role of this behavior remains unknown, both natural and synthetic examples share a key feature: they involve objects that rotate while interacting.


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