The pressure is on to make metallic hydrogen
Scientists are closing in on turning hydrogen into a metal in liquid or solid form
UNDER PRESSURE Physicists use powerful electrical pulses in the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories to create liquid metallic hydrogen for fleeting moments.
Randy Montoya/Sandia Labs
In a few highly specialized laboratories, scientists bombard matter with the world’s most powerful electrical pulses or zap it with sophisticated lasers.