A mesmerizing new time-lapse video captures snowflakes forming in real time under a microscope, revealing the delicate, symmetrical patterns that emerge as ice crystals grow. Filmed with a macro lens by Vyacheslav Ivanov in St. Petersburg, the footage is entirely genuine and required extraordinary patience to record. As the snowflakes develop, their six-sided shapes take form due to the hexagonal structure created when water molecules freeze and hydrogen bonds lock oxygen atoms into place. With

A spectacular time-lapse of a snowflake forming, by Professor Libbrecht at Cal Tech. | IFLScience