# s-phys: squeezing hydrogen ... they're looking at something that's never existed before

<< 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 >> Isaac F. Silvera

<< To create it [metallic hydrogen], Silvera and Dias squeezed a tiny hydrogen sample at 495 gigapascal, or more than 71.7 million pounds-per-square inch - greater than the pressure at the center of the Earth >>

<< In addition to helping scientists answer fundamental questions about the nature of matter, the material is theorized to have a wide range of applications, including as a room-temperature superconductor >>

Metallic hydrogen, once theory, becomes reality. Jan. 26, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-metallic-hydrogen-theory-reality.html

Ranga P. Dias, Isaac F. Silvera. Observation of the Wigner-Huntington transition to metallic hydrogen. Science  26 Jan 2017. DOI: 10.1126/science.aal1579

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2017/01/25/science.aal1579