Liquid hydrogen rethink has astronomical implications

While hydrogen is the simplest element, we still struggle to predict its high pressure behaviour – but researchers in the UK and Switzerland may have just solved one hydrogen puzzle. Bingqing Cheng from the University of Cambridge, UK, and colleagues used machine learning to study how hydrogen changes between liquid states at high temperatures and pressures. That meant that they could use computer power more efficiently than other theoretical chemistry methods. As such, they could simulate systems containing over a thousand atoms, rather than just a few hundred.