{"id":83831,"date":"2013-04-28T12:42:06","date_gmt":"2013-04-28T09:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/"},"modified":"2013-04-28T12:42:06","modified_gmt":"2013-04-28T09:42:06","slug":"science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/","title":{"rendered":"Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; Technion Scientists found that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic arrangements"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 dir=\"ltr\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9514 alignright\" alt=\"18\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/18-230x300.jpg\" width=\"230\" height=\"300\" \/><\/h1>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">\u201cVaterite\u201d is an unstable atomic arrangement of \u201ccalcium carbonate\u201d<\/h2>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">Technion scientists solved the 100 year old mystery when they discovered that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic structures. This was revealed in the prestigious scientific journal, \u201c<em>Science<\/em>\u201d .<\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Assistant Professor Boaz Pokroy and his doctoral student Lee Kabalah-Amitai from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, explain that calcium carbonate, a compound of calcium carbonate and oxygen, is the most abundant mineral in nature, and appears in different forms that vary in their spatial atomic positioning (atomic arrangement). \u201cVaterite\u201d is a specific atomic arrangement of \u201ccalcium carbonate\u201d and in relation to other atomic arrangements, is extremely rare (in nature). Although it is not very uncommon, \u201cvaterites\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">are present in many aspects of our lives<\/span>.\u00a0 For example, it can appear as gallbladder stones, can be found in certain geological structures, used as an essential material for the paper industry, an important constituent of cement, and even found in meteorites from space.\u00a0 Scientists from the Technion are studying the development and formation of vaterits in the important biological process known as Biomineralization. In this process, living organisms control the production of different minerals on its atomic level. For example, when a mollusk shell receives a blow that cracks its shell it uses \u201cvaterite\u201d to repair the damage, a pearl usually has a deep shine (resulting from a collection of different calcium carbonate) but occasionally (as a result of a growth error) vaterite forms in the pearl and eliminates its shine, and fish (such as salmon) grow vaterite in their ears to aid them with their balance.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For over 100 years, scientists have failed to reach a clear cut explanation for the atomic arrangement of \u201cvaterite\u201d. Doctoral student Lee Kabalah-Amitai, with the guidance of Assistant Professor Pokroy, studied this topic by examining crystals found on\u00a0 and within the bodies of small marine animals (from the Tunicate family also known as sea squirts) called \u201c<em>Hardomia momos<\/em>\u201d, with help from Boaz Mayzel, a sea biologist and scuba diver from the Tel-Aviv University who collected the specimens, Dr. Yaron Kaufman, who examined materials under the Technion\u2019s \u201cTitan\u201d electron microscope (the only one of its kind in Israel), and assistance by Dr. Andy Fitch, a scientist at the synchrotron in\u00a0 Grenoble, Leonid Bloch from the team of Assistant Professor Pokroy, and Professor Pupa Gilbert from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis small organism produces a bundle of crystals from \u201cvaterite\u201d that are very sharp and relatively large, making them relatively easy to work with\u201d, explains Pokroy and Lee Kabalah-Amitai. \u201cThis is why we examined these crystals; and this is the first time they have ever been studied on the atomic level. Until now, different scientists tried to find a unified atomic arrangement for vaterites or determine which of its original structures were the most accurate. We found that vaterites actually consisted of two different atomic arrangements that exist in harmony with one another. The second atomic arrangement was found in a microscopic area (nano-metric \u2013 around 40,000 times smaller than a human hair) and this is the reason it eluded the eyes of scientists who believed this was a singular structure rather than a dual structure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Vaterite is an unstable atomic structure, making it a rare formation in nature.\u00a0 Nonetheless, it can still be found in different areas. Technion scientists expect that their discovery will facilitate future understanding of the formation mechanisms and stabilization of \u201cvaterite\u201d.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Above: Spicule made of vaterite crystals that were removed from the \u201c<em>Hardomia momos<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cVaterite\u201d is an unstable atomic arrangement of \u201ccalcium carbonate\u201d Technion scientists solved the 100 year old mystery when they discovered that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic structures. This was revealed in the prestigious scientific journal, \u201cScience\u201d . Assistant Professor Boaz Pokroy and his doctoral student Lee Kabalah-Amitai from the Department of Materials&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/\">Continue Reading<span> Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; Technion Scientists found that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic arrangements<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; Technion Scientists found that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic arrangements - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; Technion Scientists found that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic arrangements - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cVaterite\u201d is an unstable atomic arrangement of \u201ccalcium carbonate\u201d Technion scientists solved the 100 year old mystery when they discovered that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic structures. This was revealed in the prestigious scientific journal, \u201cScience\u201d . Assistant Professor Boaz Pokroy and his doctoral student Lee Kabalah-Amitai from the Department of Materials&hellip; Continue Reading Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; Technion Scientists found that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic arrangements\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-28T09:42:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"EladAdmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"EladAdmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/\",\"name\":\"Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; 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This was revealed in the prestigious scientific journal, \u201cScience\u201d . Assistant Professor Boaz Pokroy and his doctoral student Lee Kabalah-Amitai from the Department of Materials&hellip; Continue Reading Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; Technion Scientists found that \u201cvaterite\u201d crystals are composed of two different atomic arrangements","og_url":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/","og_site_name":"\u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc","article_published_time":"2013-04-28T09:42:06+00:00","author":"EladAdmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"EladAdmin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/","url":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/science-reveals-a-100-year-old-mystery-is-solved-technion-scientists-found-that-vaterite-crystals-are-composed-of-two-different-atomic-arrangements\/","name":"Science reveals: a 100 year old mystery is solved ; 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