In the middle of lazy afternoon phone conversation with my grandfather, he says "Did you know they just made metallic hydrogen?" I know this is a very rare thing for me to say, but I was speechless. Of course I knew that hydrogen could become a solid at cold enough temperatures, but that is scary close to absolute zero. It never occurred to me that it could, even in a solid state, resemble anything like a metal.

Just typing 'metallic hydrogen' into Google brings up articles like this: Hydrogen turned into metal in stunning act of alchemy that could revolutionise technology and spaceflight. Bold claim, as the media is ought to do. And of course, just a few hours later, articles started popping up refuting the claim.

But digging a bit further, the search for metallic hydrogen goes much further back than a few days ago. It goes back to Wigner and Huntington.