Scientists have tried in vain to produce a metal from hydrogen for the past 80-years, a substance thought to be present on other planets. Metallic hydrogen could be used to make a rocket propellant four times more powerful than what’s currently available. Two scientists, Ranga Dias and Isaac Silvera, at Harvard University claimed to have discovered this super substance. This was made possible by squeezing hydrogen between diamonds inside a cryostat, at a pressure even greater than that at the Earth’s center. Continue reading for another video and more information.
“This is the Holy Grail of high-pressure physics. It’s the first-ever sample of metallic hydrogen on Earth, so when you’re looking at it, you’re looking at something that’s never existed before,” said Silvera in a Harvard press release.
