ASU lab explores interior of planets

How do planets work on the inside? One Arizona State University researcher is trying to find out.

Sibo Chen, an assistant professor at ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences and at the School of Earth and Space Exploration joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss Facility for Open Research in a Compressed Environment’s lab’s work.

Chen re-creates the extreme interiors of planets in ASU’s FORCE Lab. High-pressure instruments are used in the lab to mimic environments below the Earth’s surface. They also help investigate the presence of water and hydrogen in Earth and Mars. He is learning more about how worlds evolve and remain habitable.

Researchers are also recreating the extreme conditions that can be found deep inside planets using a two-story tall, 6,000-ton uniaxial multi-anvil press called the Ichiban.