Barat Achinuq

Abstract Ferroelectric materials exhibit a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by an electric field1, a property central to non-volatile memories2,3, sensors4 and actuators5,6. In most conventional ferroelectrics, the polarization originates from a softening of a polar mode7. The amplitude of the mode along a given direction couples with the applied field along the same direction8.

Abstract Enamel covers teeth, is the hardest tissue in the vertebrate body and has a complex multiscale structure from nanometres to millimetres1. The structure comprises thin, long hydroxyapatite (Ca5(PO4)3OH) nanocrystals2, 50–70 nm wide, many micrometres long, parallel and bundled into approximately 5-µm-wide rods. The rods undulate and cross into a microscale ‘decussation pattern’ that toughens enamel by deflecting cracks3,4.

Abstract Corals form their reef-building aragonite (CaCO3) skeletons via transient precursor phases yet understanding of the dynamics of these early-stage transformations remains incomplete. Using time-independent myriad mapping (MM) at 50 nm resolution, we map five mineral phases near the skeleton surface of Stylophora pistillata corals grown in varying seawater pH.