By
subjecting hydrogen molecules to record pressures more than 3 million
times that of Earth's atmosphere, physicists in the UK have achieved the
early stages of a never-before-seen hydrogen phase, known as Phase V.
Observations
of the chemical bonds that make up the resulting material suggest the
possible appearance of a metallic form of hydrogen - something that was
predicted back in 1935, but had failed to be convincingly recreated in
the lab. It’s thought that this elusive hydrogen metal can conduct
electricity with no resistance, and exists in large amounts inside
Jupiter and Saturn.
