The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) recently discovered a new state of matter within the core of our Earth. Utilizing shock wave readings from the recent Hunga Tunga volcano eruption, they discovered that the Earth’s deep core did not vibrate in accordance with any known state of matter. Yu He, a physicist at CAS and a publisher of these findings in the Scientific journal Nature, described this new substance and state of matter as ＂superionic＂, which is supposedly made up of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon in neither a solid nor liquid state. 

＂It is quite strange,＂ said Dr. He, ＂The solidification of iron at the inner core boundary does not change the mobility of these light elements, and the convection of light elements is continuous in the inner core.＂

Theorized Model of what Superionic Ice would look like (Live Science)

Because the researchers couldn’t study earth’s core directly, they utilized recent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes to gain measurements and data on the vibration of the earth’s core. Simulations from gathered data indicated that Dr. He and his colleagues had found a strange, unknown state of matter. When asked why this state of matter was being discovered inside Earth’s inner core, Dr. He stated that more research was needed. Dr. He also stated that ＂I think more studies are needed to explain other seismic features, such as seismic anistropy in the inner core.＂ The discovery comes after ages of human scientists believing they understood what the earth was made of. It means that we now have no knowledge of this new state of matter in the earth’s inner core.