A state of matter that was previously thought to have existed within a few milliseconds of the universe's creation at the Big Bang has been produced by particle collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

As per Discovery News, the detected form of matter is known as quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and was thought to have existed when temperatures and pressures are higher as compared to what the normal matter can withstand. Such conditions of high density and heat lead to the formation of a 'perfect liquid' briefly before cooling off and condensing into a more common state of matter.

The collision of particle forced ions to come together at roughly the speed of light, revealing the elusive plasma comprising of gluons and quarks. The building blocks of neutrons and protons are quarks whereas gluons are particles, carrying the strong nuclear force and 'glue' subatomic particles to each other.

Previously, drops of QGP have been produced but the latest RHIC discovery is the first time that the plasma has been produced from the collision between a small ion and a heavy ion that is helium-3 and gold, respectively.

Earlier, just heavy ions were used to find QGP. This has revealed that QGP can be created at lower energies than expected. This will give huge opportunities to scientists, studying the nature of matter as it existed at the universe's creation.