The Soviets are after it. So are the Germans, the Japanese and the Dutch.

But right now, no one--not even Nature--may be as close as Professor of Physics Isaac F. Silvera to creating metallic hydrogen.

But while Silvera and his three-man research team know they are close to their goal, they are not sure what will happen if they succeed.

They may end up with a room temperature "superconductor" capable of conducting enormous electrical currents without resistance. With it "you can create enormous amounts of power without a power loss," says Silvera. Most conductors lose electrical power because of friction but a superconductor could transport electricity at super-fast speeds with greater energy efficiency.

Orthey might end up with metallic hydrogen that turns back into a gas under normal temperature and pressure.

Whatever the results, the race to create the substance is on and in the attempts to create the superconductor, scientists have devised a variety of experiments.

The Soviet scientists constructed "a massive six-story press that just staggers the mind," Silvera says, "it ended up being a white elephant."

Silvera took an entirely different approach, making his experiment small enough to fit under a microscope.

The scientists are attempting to apply millions of atmospheres of pressure to the hydrogen by squeezing the molecules between two microscopic diamond chips. By pushing the two chips together at a temperature of approximately-450 degrees, Silvera hopes to attain his goal.

with the small experiment, "I can walk around with millions of atmospheres in my pocket," Silvera says.

"It's a real revolution in high pressure technique," he says. "Because the area is so small, you don't need that much force." But the real bonus, he says, is that "the diamond gives a window on the experiment. We might actually be able to watch the hydrogen change into the metallic state."

A major concern is whether the metallic-hydrogen will return to a gas once the pressure and temperature are normalized.

While Silvera remains hopeful that it will not, other scientists remain skeptical.

"My own feeling is that it will not stay around once it is made," says Art Ruoff, a Cornell University professor who is one of the few U.S. scientists working on the same problem. "Its only value is that it is scientifically interesting to create," he adds.

To Silvers's assistants, however, the prospect of failure is not a major worry.