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HowTo: Grow Your Own Snowflakes

By Robin Mansur

Dec 22, 2010 01:00 PM

Metallic cylindrical object with grooves.

CalTech's Kenneth Libbrecht reveals the sublime beauty of snow crystals when photographed with a specially designed snowflake photomicroscope. The physicist is author of the Field Guide to Snowflakes and The Secret Life of a Snowflake, and recently posted an instructional guide for growing your own snow crystals.

Schematic diagram of an ice container with labeled parts.

You Will Need:

One used 20-oz plastic Coke bottle
Three large-diameter styrofoam cups (or something similar)
A small kitchen sponge (1/2 inch thick)
A short length of nylon fishing line (thinner is better; 1-pound test is good)
A strong sewing needle
Four straight pins
One paper clip
Some paper towels

Libbrecht's microscopic images, via New Scientist:

Hexagonal crystal structure on a blue background.

Hexagonal ice crystal with intricate patterns against a blue background.

Snowflake against a blue background.

Snowflake with intricate crystalline structure on a light blue background.

Intricate snowflake against a blue background.

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