Diamonds under pressure

Earth’s core is a roiling furnace, where temperature and pressure exist at extremes that alter the basic behavior of solid matter. These physical extremes cause changes in matter down to the molecular level, where complex crystals form and unusual atomic interactions take place. These behaviors are normal deep inside the earth, but stay hidden under miles of rock. Thus, to learn about matter at environmental extremes, those extremes must be created in a lab—and doing so may hold lessons about Earth and its celestial neighbors.

Enter Natalia Dubrovinskaia, a full professor at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, and pioneer in the field of high-pressure studies.