by Elio — For some time, I've had the urge to learn some­thing about di­atoms. They are daz­zlingly beau­ti­ful, rel­a­tively easy to ma­nip­u­late, and have left a fos­sil record im­mense in quan­tity. I never had fol­lowed up on this yen, so here's my chance. A re­cent pa­per shed light on the way they make…