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Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California Berkeley conducted experiments using shock compression to study the properties of water ice at high pressures. They used a laser-driven shock compression setup to compress water ice to pressures ranging from 120 to 239 GPa, creating a superionic state of water ice. The experiments utilized a diamond anvil cell to precompress the water into ice VII at 2.5 GPa, and a velocimeter and pyrometer to measure the shock front velocity and thermal emission. The results showed a significant increase in reflectivity and electronic conductivity at high pressures, indicating the formation of a superionic state. The researchers also performed molecular dynamics simulations to support their findings, which suggested that the superionic state of water ice could exist in planetary interiors and play a role in dynamo scaling.