"A team at the Carnegie Institution for Science subjected the material to pressures up to 1.4 million times atmospheric pressure at sea level, and temperatures up to 2,200C.
They found that it pulls off the trick of changing its electrical properties without any shifting of shape - it can be an insulator or conductor depending just on temperature and pressure.
Combined with computer simulations of just what was going on with the material's electrons, the group claim that the results show a new type of metallisation.
"At high temperatures, the atoms in iron oxide crystals are arranged with the same structure as common table salt," said Ronald Cohen, a co-author of the study. "Just like table salt, iron oxide at ambient conditions is a good insulator-it does not conduct electricity.""
"Obesity has a greater impact on the blood pressure of teenage girls than on teenage boys, a US study has suggested.
High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke in later life.
The study of 1,700 teenagers, presented to the American Physiological Society conference, found girls had three times the risk of higher blood pressure."
"Six would-be astronauts will this week begin a 520-day mock space voyage to simulate a mission to Mars. How will they cope with the huge psychological pressures?"
"A space suit and pressure helmet designed to protect Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner in his record-breaking 120,000ft (36,576m) free-fall attempt have been revealed to the public."