The philosopher’s stone was an object that all alchemists tried to produce in the 15th century. According to the alchemists, any substance could be turned into gold thanks to this stone. The stone was also believed to give immortality. In fact, the fact that the French alchemist Nicolas Flamel, who allegedly discovered the stone, could not be found in his tomb after his death is cited by many as proof that the stone was actually produced.
Of course, it is known by almost everyone that this story, which was the subject of even the Harry Potter books at one point, is not true. However, after a long struggle, scientists finally discovered the “modern philosopher’s stone”. Thanks to a new method, water has been successfully “turned into metal”.
Looks like metal, durable as metal
Realizing in a study conducted at the Czech Republic Academy of Sciences that the compression of atoms is not the only thing required to make water as durable as metal, scientists have almost succeeded in transforming “one substance into another”, which has been dreamed of for centuries.
Scientists, who added sodium-potassium, a metal alloy that is in liquid form at room temperature, by exposing the atoms of water, which is normally an insulating material, to 48 times more pressure than the earth’s pressure, achieved this work under special conditions in a sea-level laboratory. After the experiments, scientists who successfully combined the metal alloy charged with positive ions with water, stated that the outer surface of the water was covered with a gold-like yellow color and that water had the same properties as an ordinary metal.
The main purpose of the research was not to convert water into metal. Scientists are conducting this experiment to better understand what materials and alloys found in high-pressure environments on the outer planets will look like on those planets. For example, it was confirmed that Jupiter contains substances such as “metallized water” that appeared in this experiment.
The scientists hope to continue their research on metallized water and discover innovative uses for this alloy.