Sometimes, chemistry torpedoes your view of the world. Take hydrogen, for example. Scientists are extraordinarily close to turning the universe’s most abundant element—which is almost always found as either a gas or a plasma—into a metal.

Researchers have been probing hydrogen’s different phases for decades, and metallic hydrogen was first proposed over 80 years ago by two Princeton physicists. Now, three physicists based in Scotland have created a fifth phase of hydrogen, one that’s definitely not a gas and quite probably almost a metal.

To get there, the team squished hydrogen molecules (H 2 ) between diamond anvils at some of the highest pressures ever produced in a lab—380 gigapascals, or about 3.75 million times more pressure than is found at sea level. At that point, the hydrogen ceased to be transparent and turned very dark, a sign that the usual covalent bond was breaking down. It all took place at a relatively balmy 300 K, or about 80˚ F.