My Tungsten Cube (2019)
I used to work with tungsten carbide cubes during my PhD thesis. They're used in multianvil high-pressure synthesis. With the right setup you can reach almost 20 GPa of pressure. Not as much as with diamond anvil cells, but you have more reasonable sample sizes (a few milligrams). And thats still like the pressure pretty deep into Earth's mantle.<p>I also used the opportunity to snap a neat picture of a polished WC cube: <a href="https://imgur.com/C2YiMqb.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://imgur.com/C2YiMqb.jpg</a><p>I always had fun handing them over to students because everyone is surprised by the sheer weight of these things.<p>Tungsten carbide is actually quite dangerous after it has been subjected to a lot of stress (Such as being stuck into a 1000 t press for a high-pressure synthesis). They have the mean tendecy to explode into super sharp pieces when you're not expecting it, so wear goggles.