A team of
physicists at Harvard university has finally made the Wigner-Huntington
transition a reality. The Wigner-Huntington
transition was first predicted in 1935 and involved the phenomenon of
transforming hydrogen gas to a metallic form.
Supposedly,
hydrogen in the metallic form possesses a whole lot more potential even though
its atom only contains an electron and a proton. Metallic hydrogen can be used
in a multitude of ways, ranging from superconductive metallic wires with no resistance
to carry energy from one place to another, to magnetic levitation of high sped
trains that uses the diamagnetism power of superconductors which could
revolutionize transportation.
“To
develop metallic hydrogen, the Harvard team squeezed two opposing heavy-duty
diamonds together to compress gaseous hydrogen, and then they transitioned it
into its liquid state by lowering the temperature [hydrogen liquifies at a
temperature of -252°C (-423°F)]. They then gradually increased the applied
pressure on the solid hydrogen by twisting a steel screw to exert force on the
diamond anvil. It was then that changes were noticed.” (Galeon, 2017)
Galeon,
Dom. “Scientists Have Finally Created Metallic Hydrogen.” Futurism, 27 Jan.
2017, futurism.com/scientists-have-finally-created-metallic-hydrogen/.
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