Apparently, this was pre-published in October. Previous discussion here[0], ArXiv link here[1]. The news today is the peer-reviewed version in <i>Science</i> of the same paper, as I understand it.<p>[0]: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12875868" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12875868</a>
[1]: <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.01634" rel="nofollow">https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.01634</a>
The title for this is horrible, the thing that really needs to be emphasized is the metallic hydrogen. The other story on HN about this...<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13495007" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13495007</a><p>...mentions they are going to release the pressure in a few weeks. Anyone know if they have tried to measure the conductivity yet? I assume that would be one of the first things they'd want to do.
For 80 years, scientists have been trying to figure out how to produce metallic hydrogen. The search is finally over, and this breakthrough is going to transform everything from space travel to how we turn lights on and off.