Geologist’s rockin’ discovery crystallizes atomic research
LOwELL » A UMass Lowell geologist is among the researchers who discovered a new type of manmade quasicrystal created by first test blast of an atomic bomb.
This discovery could help repair bone, insulate heat, and convert heat into electricity, according to Professor Nelson G.
Eby, a member of the University’s Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department.
Eby and his fellow research team identified the quasicrystal inside samples of trinitite that were collected from debris of the first atomic bomb detonated by the U.S. Army in 1945 in the New Mexico desert.
Once a year, the public can view the atomic bomb site, Eby said. It is illegal to collect the trinitite, but their group had permission. His colleagues described him during the research as like a “kid in a candy store.”
Also known as atomic rock, trinitite is a glassy material produced by the extreme heat and pressure unleashed by detonated atomic devices, he said. The rock gets its name from the word “trinity,” the U.S military’s code term for the first nuclear test blast.
Eby started his career as what he called the “classic student.” He enjoys collaborating with other scientists and has spent much of his career pursuing international collaborations.
“These people bring so many new ideas in ways you don’t see yourself. It’s the way science needs to be done. They play to your weaknesses and you play to theirs. As a team you can
do some pretty cool stuff,” Eby said.
Geologists don’t just spend time in a lab, they’re out in the field. Eby recounted his lifetime of research abroad. He described a trip to Nairobi where he sat in a grass hut eating lunch with a village headman and his six wives. Within hours, an overnight flight took them to Oxford where researchers studied in a sophisticated facility. His point being, research can take you anywhere.
Naturally occurring quasicrystals have been found in meteorites or structures impacted by meteorite strikes. Scientists have created quasicrystals in the lab but the recent discovery in trinitite is the first known time the substance was artificially created, according to Eby.
Eby believes the more scientists understand the conditions in which quasicrystals form, the more they can help design them for specific purposes. Eby and his students’ study trinitite in his UMass Lowell lab.
The research was published in the academic journal, ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.’ Scientists from the University of Florence in Italy; the California Institute of Technology; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Princeton University; and a researcher working independently contributed to the project as well.
Experimental nuclear physicist Andrew Rogers is an associate professor and associate director at UMass Lowell’s Radiation Laboratory.
“The favorite part of my job as physicist and as a professor is exploring nature through experiments and guiding students in their understanding of the physical world. I am always amazed at our ability to measure things like atoms and to be able to connect those discoveries to the stars and the larger universe.”
Though he has not worked closely with Eby, their labs are next to each other’s in Pinanski Hall, so they often have random chats.