This week in Science is a review of the most interesting scientific achievements and scientific discussions of the week.
This week marked the first-time atomic metallic hydrogen has ever made its appearance on Earth , as reported by Harvard University scientists in the journal Science. Thomas D. Cabot, Isaac Silvera, and Ranga Dias managed to synthesize this new material by increasing pressure on it.
As can be seen in the image below, transparent, insulator, molecular hydrogen is first transformed to “black hydrogen”, a semiconductor, and then to atomic and metallic hydrogen. To achieve this result, it was necessary to squeeze a small sample of hydrogen at 495 gigapascals, more pressure than at the center of Earth. As stated by Professor Isaac Silvera:
The atomic hydrogen was already theoretically predicted as were some of its properties, which could be revolutionary if proven true. The theory predicts it would be metastable, which means that if you take the pressure off, it will stay metallic. Because it is also predicted that metallic hydrogen could act as a superconductor at room temperature, it could be used to revolutionize energy transmission. As stated by Professor Silvera:
Finally, metallic hydrogen could be used as the most powerful rocket propellant ever discovered and help transform how we explore space. According to the scientists , metallic hydrogen when converted back to molecular hydrogen would release enough energy to be almost four times more powerful than current propellants.
It is important to point out, though, that some physicists are skeptical about the Harvard team’s result. The team has not yet repeated the experiment, a common procedure in science, so there is only one measurement of the reflectivity of the sample at high pressure, an indication that it is a metal.
