Researchers at the University of Rochester and Technion–Israel Institute of Technology accidentally discovered a new way to rearrange the internal structure of molybdenum—an extremely heat-resistant metal—at room temperature. Molybdenum is typically used to reinforce nuclear reactors, jet engine turbine blades and rocket nozzles because it doesn’t melt until it is heated to more than 2,600°C (4,712°F). Controlling its atomic structure at room temperature could open the door to more applications, including next-generation semiconductors.

The engineers found that pressing a fine diamond tip a few nanometers into molybdenum can reform the crystals inside molybdenum, giving the metal new properties. The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, took the researchers by surprise.