22
SPRING 2016
26
SPRING 2016
Ice twice A cubic ice crystal, only theorized about until now. (Following spread) Intricate hexagonal crystals magnified 110x.
S
EMs beam a stream of electrons at an object and send back
exquisite detail. "These are ice crystal shapes we're seeing
for the first time—they're not in the literature," says physics
professor Nate Magee, one of several dozen researchers in
the world who look at ice crystal shape and texture.
"It's because people haven't had the technology to look at this level of detail."
Why does this matter? Magee focuses on the crystals in cirrus clouds, once thought
to be as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the sun's energy back skyward. But then the
idea of an uneven surface gained traction—and TCNJ's SEM images now back
that up. "The rough shape of the crystals will make the sunlight go up, down, and
sideways," he says. For climate-warming calculations, "That's going to change the
way cirrus clouds are represented in climate models."
