Enlarge / The red trinitite sample that contained the quasicrystal. It was formed in the aftermath of the first nuclear detonation in 1945—the famous Trinity Test at the Alamorgordo Bombing Range in New Mexico. (credit: Luca Bindi and Paul J. Steinhardt) The detonation of the first atomic bomb during the 1945 Trinity Test produced temperatures and pressures so extreme that the surrounding sand fused into a glassy material called trinitite.