Nanostructured diamond capsules (NDCs) with high-pressure argon nanodomains embedded in the matrix. (Courtesy: Charles Zeng) High pressures dramatically change the properties of materials, sometimes ...

Have you ever heard of metallic hydrogen? Probably not, because it has only ever existed in theory. Harvard scientists have recently created metallic hydrogen from applying extremely high pressure to ...

Pressure is one of the fundamental thermodynamic variables. It affects intermolecular interactions and interatomic properties. Under extreme conditions such as high pressure, materials exhibit ...

To test the Standard Model of particle physics, scientists often collide particles using gigantic underground rings. In a similar fashion, high-pressure physicists compress materials to ever greater ...

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have discovered new high-pressure structures in the elements tellurium and selenium. This information could allow scientists to understand more about the ...

Gold has a reputation for being one of the most stable, predictable elements in the periodic table, but under crushing pressures and searing temperatures it turns out to be anything but simple. By ...

For decades, scientists quested after a room-temperature superconductor. Now that they’ve finally found one, the hunt is on for an even better material. Until last year, all known superconductors — ...