Giant laser heats solid gold to 14 times its melting point

Nature Podcast

[email protected]

Science, News, Technology

4.4 • 859 Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

00:46 How hot can solid gold get?

A new study suggests that gold can be superheated far beyond its melting point without it becoming a liquid. Using an intense burst from a laser, a team heated a gold foil to 14 times its melting point, far beyond a theoretical limit put forward in previous studies. The team suggest that the speed at which they heated the gold allowed them to shoot past this limit, but there is scepticism about whether the team actually achieved the level of heating they report.

Research Article: White et al.

News and Views: Solid gold superheated to 14 times its melting temperature

News: Superheated gold stays solid well past its predicted melting point

10:05 Research Highlights

How island life led to huge wingspans for flying foxes, and how a sugary diet ‘rewires’ a mouse’s brain.

Research Highlight: How the world’s biggest bats got their enormous wingspans

Research Highlight: How sugar overload in early life affects the brain later

12:30 Researchers warn about the threat of nuclear war

With increasing political polarisation and more nuclear-armed nations, researchers are warning about the threat of nuclear war. Reporter Alex Witze has been speaking to scientists, and she told us about their chief concerns and how to avoid a conflict in an era of AI and misinformation.

News Feature: How to avoid nuclear war in an era of AI and misinformation

23:22 Briefing Chat

What a new AI model from China means for science, and why some dolphins use sponges to hunt.

Nature: ‘Another DeepSeek moment’: Chinese AI model Kimi K2 stirs excitement

Associated Press: Some Australian dolphins use sponges to hunt fish, but it’s harder than it looks

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

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Transcript

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