New research carried out in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory may deliver a new lot of chemical elements into a materials science balancing act for producing alloys for aviation and other utilization. Scientists used x-rays and two other synchrotron light sources to investigate an extraordinary metal that extends drastically at low temperatures. The tests on samarium sulfide doped with some contaminants helped to unlock the secrets of the material’s atomic-level configuration and the electron-based sources of its negative thermal extension. The research paves way for designing new materials where the degree of expansion can be accurately tuned by squeezing the chemical recipe.