The optical rotatum's logarithmic spiral follows a pattern often found in nature, including nautilus shells. (Image Credit: Capasso Lab / Harvard SEAS) Patterns exist all around the world, creating ...

The shape is thought to be the result of leftover fuel released into space as the Falcon 9 rocket returned to Earth.

Hundreds of identical spiral patterns had formed on the surface. The discovery, later analyzed with UCLA physics professor Giovanni Zocchi , turned out to be a completely new type of chemical ...