Scientists have coaxed one of the universe’s most stubborn elements into a new compound.
Formed under intense pressures, the newly discovered compound packs helium atoms into crystalline iron, researchers report February 25 in Physical Review Letters. The compound joins a short list of materials that incorporate the normally unreactive element and suggests that helium from the early solar system could be stored in the iron that makes up Earth’s core.
Helium is one of the least reactive elements on the periodic table. Like the other noble gases, helium doesn’t gain or lose electrons easily and so does not normally form chemical compounds. But under extremely high pressures, helium can