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Physical chemistry

Did life grind to a start?

Many solids can adopt two mirror-image crystal forms, and often grow as mixtures of both. A curious mechanism of crystal growth might explain why some mixtures convert into one form when subjected to grinding.

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Figure 1: Molecules through the looking-glass.

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McBride, J., Tully, J. Did life grind to a start?. Nature 452, 161–162 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/452161a

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