University of Bayreuth

It’s taken more than three decades, but scientists have cracked the code and created a material that’s near-impossible to break and rivals diamond as the hardest substance on the planet. The applications for this long-sought-after substance are vast.

Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have created a form of nitrogen that’s never been seen before. Nicknamed “black nitrogen,” the new substance is crystalline, occurs in two-dimensional sheets, and could be useful in advanced electronics.

Different materials can play different roles when it comes to trapping and dissipating heat. But could one material have it both ways? A new breakthrough suggests that it could, made by scientists who believe heat needn’t just be a one way street.