In January 2017, Harvard physicists Ranga Dias and Isaac Silvera claimed they’d created metallic hydrogen—a theorized exotic state of matter predicted since the 1930s—by crushing hydrogen gas between diamond anvils at pressures exceeding 495 gigapascals (nearly 5 million times atmospheric pressure). If confirmed and stabilized at room temperature and pressure, metallic hydrogen could revolutionize energy and space travel: theoretical models suggest it might be a room-temperature superconductor (conducting electricity with zero resistance) and the most powerful rocket fuel possible. However, the claim sparked intense controversy when the sample vanished, and independent replication failed.
Why Metallic Hydrogen Matters
At normal conditions, hydrogen is a gas of H₂ molecules. Under extreme pressure (like in Jupiter’s core), electrons should break free from atoms, allowing hydrogen to conduct electricity like a metal. Theory predicts this metallic hydrogen might remain metastable at normal conditions once created (like diamonds, which form under pressure but persist afterward). If metastable and superconducting at room temperature, applications would include: lossless power transmission grids, ultra-powerful magnets (MRI, fusion reactors, maglev trains), and spacecraft fuel (releasing immense energy when reverting to molecular hydrogen—16x more powerful than the best chemical fuels).
The Controversy
Dias and Silvera’s 2017 Science paper showed experimental evidence of metallic hydrogen: a shiny, reflective sample under extreme pressure in a diamond anvil cell. However, when they attempted to release pressure gradually, the sample disappeared—possibly vaporizing or the diamond anvils breaking. No photos of recovered metallic hydrogen existed, and no other group replicated the result. Critics questioned whether the observation was truly metallic hydrogen or diamond anvil artifacts. In 2020, a French team claimed metallic hydrogen creation but at even higher pressures, and the sample also vanished upon decompression.
Retraction & Discredited Claims
The metallic hydrogen claim foreshadowed Ranga Dias’s later scandals: in 2020-2023, multiple papers by Dias claiming room-temperature superconductivity in other materials (lutetium-hydrogen compounds) were retracted due to data fabrication and manipulation allegations. Nature retracted a 2020 superconductor paper in 2022, and Physical Review Letters retracted a 2023 paper amid university misconduct investigations. The pattern of sensational claims, lack of reproducibility, and eventual retractions undermined Dias’s credibility and cast doubt on the 2017 metallic hydrogen claim—possibly a genuine observation requiring better experimental control, or possibly another data misrepresentation.
Sources: Science Magazine (January 2017 Dias/Silvera paper), Nature coverage of replication attempts, Physics Today condensed matter analysis, retraction notices (2022-2023), University of Rochester investigations