https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.12008 - the arxiv submission on this material. If confirmed, it would cause an enormous disruption/revolution. It is cheap, and made basically of copper+lead. ======================================== Researchers from South Korea report creating the first room temperature superconductor that works at normal atmospheric pressure. This is a big deal, as previously all known superconductors required extremely low temperatures or very high pressure. The new material is called LK-99. It is made from lead, copper, phosphorus and oxygen. LK-99 was shown to have zero electrical resistance, meaning current can flow through it with no energy loss. This was demonstrated up to temperatures of 400K or 127C (!!!). Other properties that confirm LK-99 is a superconductor include the Meissner effect (expulsion of magnetic fields) and ability to carry large electrical currents. The researchers propose the superconductivity arises from "superconducting quantum wells" - basically very thin layers within the material where electrons can flow without resistance. These are created by distortions in the crystal structure. If validated, this discovery could enable many new applications of superconductors, as expensive cooling is no longer needed. However, more study is needed to confirm the results. The researchers believe LK-99's structure, with networks of lead and phosphate, allows the material to maintain superconductivity at room temperature without needing high pressures. In summary, South Korean scientists report achieving room temperature superconductivity for the first time under normal pressures, which could enable many new applications if confirmed. The effect arises from structural distortions in the novel material LK-99.
This could also help get rid of verntilator fans for cooling in computers, as I hate everything mechanical and analog in computing, especially spinning HDDs and cooling fans...
I am crossing fingers... A superconductor like that would change so much in our lives it is hard to count all the different implications. From dirt-cheap MRI machines, to way cheaper energy because of no transmission losses, to much more efficient mag-lev trains, to (hopefully) being able to build fusion reactors at a fraction of current prices, to green energy being much more viable etc. etc...
That is why the field of analytical chemistry is so extremely important to safeguard future competitiveness. But the US and Canada rather lean onto long bygone industry like oil and gas or coal mines in the hopes to stay competitive. A little more hostitolity toward Asia and China in participate and the last foreign researchers will turn their back to North America. Toyota and Mitsubishi just downscaled their EV operations in China. The US makers are completely absent other than Tesla which also struggles to stay competitive in the lightning fast moving Chinese market. No wonder when half the North American population sends all day debating woke issues rather than training to become extremely detail oriented, studious and dedicated to specialist fields. Canada decided to rather immigrate hordes of unqualified and utterly untrained Indians and Filipinos rather than focusing on landing top talent.
Interesting take from Alex Kaplan at 10:34 PM ยท Jul 25, 2023 Alex Kaplan @alexkaplan0 Today might have seen the biggest physics discovery of my lifetime. I don't think people fully grasp the implications of an ambient temperature / pressure superconductor. Here's how it could totally change our lives. 1. 100 billion kWh of electricity are wasted on transmission losses each year in the US alone. That's equivalent to 3 of our largest nuclear reactors running 24/7. Superconductivity enables lossless electricity transmission at high voltages and currents. 2. According to the authors, the LK-99 material can be prepared in about 34 hrs with extremely basic lab equipment (a mortar & pestle, basic vacuum, and furnace). These results could replicate within days-weeks. 3. Nuclear fusion reactors rely on superconductors for plasma confinement. Modern designs use RBCO/YBCO superconductors cooled with LN2 or Liquid He, creating a huge temperature gradient and challenging operation. Ambient superconductors enable a whole host of new reactor designs 4. Quantum computers use superconductors to preserve coherence in qubits. Small changes in temperature and pressure can cause the entire QC to fail during operation. Imagine a room temperature quantum computer on your desktop - now possible. 5. Superconductors might be the best batteries out there. Simply inject a current and keep it in the coil until you need it. Previously, too costly to maintain. Now, totally feasible. 6. Your iPhone won't overheat when playing subway surfer with a youtube video in the corner anymore! Ultra-efficient computer chips will have 0 resistive losses during operation with superconductors. No need for cooling fans!! 7. And, the common ones: super-cheap MRI machines, MagLev trains everywhere, and a super efficient electric grid. Basically, this: 8/8 I cannot contain my excitement. It feels like January of 2020 with a huge wave coming that no one realizes yet, but in a much better way. What a time to be alive!! Check out the original paper: https://t.co/s84E0QSQYe addendum: a lot of my @PrincetonPhys friends are convinced this is pretty legit, and I am too. Like, Fig 4 is a pretty good sign that (and was nowhere to be found in the previous Dias et. al fiasco). Hopes are up.
how come they always make a big announcement but half the stuff never pans out? why not wait until its been confirmed.
this is a list of "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is" type things. imagine a doctors office explaining to a patient that they still need to charge them $1400 for an MRI anyway...