The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021) • Hacker News Board

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#11

Post by julieturner99 » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 5:49 PM UTC

HN title should note this article is from 2021.

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#12

Post by BobaFloutist » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 5:56 PM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #6

> device, which stands at about five feet in height off the ground when placed on a table And is about the length of three football fields when dismantled and spaced equally across them?

Good catch, that's a remarkably poor description. A table can easily be anywhere from like two to four feet tall, so this device is anywhere from one to three feet tall, neither of which sounds nearly as impressive as five feet.

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#13

Post by valiant-comma » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 6:27 PM UTC

Are these really higher resolution than the 2010 scans from an electron microscope[1]?

[1] https://www.wired.com/2010/12/snowflakes-by-microscope/

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#14

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 6:55 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#15

Post by dang » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:03 PM UTC

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #4

(2021) Related from then: Photos of Snowflakes Like You've Never Seen Them Before https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/science/snowflakes-photos...

Thanks! Macroexpanded:

Highest resolution photos ever taken of snowflakes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25939169 - Jan 2021 (26 comments)

Ultra High Resolution Photos of Snowflakes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25414579 - Dec 2020 (88 comments)

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#16

Post by technojamin » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:03 PM UTC

valiant-comma wrote: post #13

Are these really higher resolution than the 2010 scans from an electron microscope[1]? [1] https://www.wired.com/2010/12/snowflakes-by-microscope/

Probably not, but those aren't photographs.

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#17

Post by technojamin » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:06 PM UTC

Here's a fantastic Veritasium video about snowflakes with a scientist that basically figured out all of the ways they can form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2Jfm35XeE

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#18

Post by hermitcrab » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:28 PM UTC

I don't understand how snowflakes are different to each other and yet also symmetric. Are they always symmetric?

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#19

Post by zafka » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:44 PM UTC

topherclay wrote: post #5

ggm wrote: post #2

I increasingly find the no two alike thing exasperating. Almost nothing in nature above the subatomic/atomic/molecule level is "alike" in crystals or anything else. Making BIPM spheres of counted atoms does not truly make them identical. Cubic crystals of salt will have differences. At the level of detail most people can discern, I suspect many morphological forms of ice crystal are very alike, and we have to resort…

That's a fun thought experiment: to imagine what level of detail of snowflakes most people are able to discern. Reminds me of a little bit of that one xkcd. https://xkcd.com/2501/

Thanks! Your comment compelled me to look up olivine and then feldspar to check their formulas. Becoming much more aware of the makeup of minerals is on my list of things to do.

Re: The highest-resolution photos of snowflakes (2021)

#20

Post by tim333 » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:58 PM UTC

hermitcrab wrote: post #18

I don't understand how snowflakes are different to each other and yet also symmetric. Are they always symmetric?

The symmetry is imperfect.