Source: Wikipedia. Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the universe, but you already knew that right?
As the most abundant element in the universe, you'd think that someone out there would have already successfully coaxed Hydrogen -- an alkali metal -- to exhibit its metallic properties. Except no one did until recently. Two researchers working at the Max Planck Institute in Germany announced recently that they did it by applying intense pressure, as well as manipulating other conditions.
Scientists have long concluded that it is possible to turn hydrogen gas into metal because our own Sun, as well as planets like Jupiter and Saturn with metallic hydrogen at their core. As a metal, the researchers also managed to cause the metallic hydrogen to show its conductive properties at room temperature, hence opening the possibility that it could be a new material in which a superconductor (which requires extremely cold temperatures) could be made from.
According to the article we found Gizmodo, scientists are still skeptical towards the authenticity of the findings because many have tried and failed before at turning hydrogen into metal. If it were possible however, this could be the next leap in computing, boosting speeds that are currently possible, exponentially. Here at HardwareZone, we can't wait for it to happen, because judging from the speed of today's Android spec race, we're bound to hit a brick wall with silicon some day soon.
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