Business Insider recently reported the top 11 physics discoveries of 2014 in an article covering topics as diverse as dark matter and stellar explosions. Featured in the article was a groundbreaking American discovery. Scientists in the United States are responsible for a phenomenal recreation of core conditions on Saturn and Jupiter using a diamond. In July 2014, the carbon-rich precious mineral was placed under intense heat and approximately 50 million atmospheres of pressure.
With only nanoseconds to study the properties of the diamond before it exploded, the scientists worked quickly, and their discoveries were published in the journal Nature. Scientists were surprised at the stiffness of the diamond shortly before its explosion. Information regarding how materials behave under intense pressures will be used to discuss and hypothesize whether certain planet cores are solid or liquid, for example.