Scientists create the most cubic form of ice crystals yet

Lab-made solid could give clues to climate change

Sun halos

SQUARED OFF  Halos around the sun may appear when cube-shaped ice crystals in clouds in the upper atmosphere scatter light (left). In the lab, nearly cubic ice crystals scatter X-rays into similar-looking concentric circles (right).

Left: Pixabay; Right: Courtesy of Ohio State University

Cube-shaped ice is rare, at least at the microscopic level of the ice crystal.