Beijing, China - Recent Researchers have successfully transformed water into ice at room temperature in a groundbreaking experiment at a new Chinese "super lab" for probing the frontiers of materials science. The Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility (SECUF), located in Beijing's suburban Huairou District, offers scientists the chance to observe matter under extreme environments. After starting construction in September 2017, the SECUF passed a national acceptance review on Wednesday, marking the completion of the internationally advanced experimental facility which can create extreme conditions such as ultra-low temperature, ultra-high pressure, strong magnetic fields, and ultra-fast optical fields. The facility, run by the Institute of Physics (IOP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a cluster of precision-controlled "extreme environment generators." It serves as a "super lab" for probing the frontiers of materials science. In the High-pressure Synergetic Measurement Station of the SECUF, a researcher showcased a visually compelling small experiment demonstrating how water transforms into ice at normal room temperature. As the researcher meticulously added water drop by drop into the apparatus, the pressure at the center of the device continued to increase. Observing the screen, a gradual transformation in the water's state became apparent as it slowly turned into ice. Equipment at the facility can generate ultra-high pressure of 300 gigapascals (GPa), nearly equivalent to the pressure at the Earth's core. It can also create ultra-fast laser pulses lasting 100 attoseconds, which is a billionth of a billionth of a second, to capture electron dynamics in real time. Shotlist: Beijing, China - Recent: 1. Display wall of High-pressure Synergetic Measurement Station; 2. Various of researcher doing experiment; 3. Various of screen showing water being transformed into ice; 4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Cheng Jinguang, deputy director, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (partially overlaid with shot 5/ending with shots 6-7): "What we witnessed in this experiment is known as high-pressure thermal ice. Under normal conditions like room temperature, water should remain in a liquid state and freeze into ice at zero degrees Celsius during winter, which is known as the traditional ice. However, under high pressure, at around 10,000 times the level of the average air pressure, water can also be transferred into ice at room temperature. This is because pressure effectively shortens the distance between atoms, reducing the distance between hydrogen and oxygen atoms, leading to the formation of a new structure under pressure, akin to the structure of ice. We refer to this as high-pressure thermal ice. As water freezes, its volume expands, but this high-pressure thermal ice has a density greater than water, at 1.4 grams per cubic centimeter."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 5. Researcher doing experiment; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 6. Screen showing water turning into ice; 7. Researcher doing experiment; 8. Various of facilities, researcher; 9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Cheng Jinguang, deputy director, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (starting with shot 8/ending with shots 10-11): "Currently, we are engaged in cutting-edge foundational research. Our objective is to broaden our understanding of the material world, comprehend its operational laws and mechanisms. Based on this foundation, we can design and optimize material properties. We aim to develop quantum functional materials with exceptional performance that are practical and usable."; 10. Logo of Chinese Academy of Sciences; 11. Various of researchers, lab. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]