Researchers recently heated a solid sample of gold to 19,000 Kelvin (33,740 degrees Fahrenheit)—which is hotter than the surface of the sun—without melting it. The process is called superheating, and as if that achievement wasn’t impressive enough on its own, the work claims two other major breakthroughs: Researchers directly measured such scalding temperatures for the first time ever, and they disproved a long-established prediction about superheating of solids. It’s difficult to measure the temperatures of extremely hot things, including “warm dense matter,” such as the sun’s plasma, the cores of planets and the ... (full story)