Superconductor - How big a breakthorugh is this ?

[ravishingravi]

 

I am trying to get my head around this. Probably more existentially important than AI.

 

[BacktoCricaddict]

Not in my lifetime. I've been hearing about this for so long and seen so many failures that I am in "got to see it to believe it" mode.

 

Most unfortunate is that the stakes are so high in this particular arena that blatant scientific fraud is rampant. Since 2018, many papers have been retracted due to data fabrication, non-replicable results etc. Hopefully, out of this chaos, a true room-temperature, easy-to-manufacture superconductor emerges.

 

As far as impact, you are probably correct that it surpasses AI, but AI progress may be easier to achieve and less resource-intensive than cooking up novel superconducting materials affordably. I have no basis for this opinion, except for my gut feeling.

[Khota]

Important but I don't see it surpassing AI.

[Vijy]

Well, it's more or less debunked now, although who knows... maybe there is another twist in the tale

[BacktoCricaddict]

Here is a good breakdown of the scientific process that must be carried out o get supporting evidence that LK99 is a superconductor.

 

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/4-critical-tests-lk-99-superconductor/

 

Quote

 

Does the voltage drop to zero and remain there? Does the resistivity truly drop to zero and remain there? Can we observe and characterize these drops in a robust fashion? Can we tell the difference between small/reduced voltage and resistivity and a value that’s truly zero? And are we observing true quantum levitation or the more common, and more mundane, phenomena of diamagnetism, paramagnetism, or ferromagnetism?

If we insisted on asking only the important questions, we’d see that we don’t have any compelling evidence at all that LK-99 is a superconductor. Until that evidence arrives, it’s most likely that we’ve simply been fooling ourselves, yet again, with wishful thinking. After all, a room temperature, ambient pressure, easily manufactured superconductor would change the world. We just don’t see the evidence that LK-99 is it.

 

 

[Vijy]

1 hour ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Here is a good breakdown of the scientific process that must be carried out o get supporting evidence that LK99 is a superconductor.

 

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/4-critical-tests-lk-99-superconductor/

 

 

there were also a couple of preprints from other groups that tried to replicate their work, and even that didn't match

[BacktoCricaddict]

14 hours ago, Vijy said:

there were also a couple of preprints from other groups that tried to replicate their work, and even that didn't match

True. The real hope is that perhaps there will be incremental progress with similar materials and one of them will be the winner.

[Vijy]

9 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

True. The real hope is that perhaps there will be incremental progress with similar materials and one of them will be the winner.

yes, it's likely to be incremental. there was much excitement in this field from the 70s onward, when I was studying. progress has been slow, but not zero

[Mariyam]

On 8/7/2023 at 8:10 PM, ravishingravi said:

 

I am trying to get my head around this. Probably more existentially important than AI.

 

What is this supposed to be? And what are its immediate benefits?

 

From the thumbnail, it looks like a damaged button bouncing about on a bass speaker.

 

 

[ravishingravi]

42 minutes ago, Mariyam said:

What is this supposed to be? And what are its immediate benefits?

 

From the thumbnail, it looks like a damaged button bouncing about on a bass speaker.

 

 

 

To put it simply, transmission of electricity through a conductor has some resistance involved. The resistance basically eats out 95% of the energy that could be transferred. If theoretically this resistance can be removed, you have unlocked vast reservoir of loss or leakage of energy that you suffer. As I understood. 

[Vijy]

8 hours ago, ravishingravi said:

 

To put it simply, transmission of electricity through a conductor has some resistance involved. The resistance basically eats out 95% of the energy that could be transferred. If theoretically this resistance can be removed, you have unlocked vast reservoir of loss or leakage of energy that you suffer. As I understood. 

yes, you can minimize Ohmic dissipation, which is very valuable

[BacktoCricaddict]

11 hours ago, Vijy said:

yes, you can minimize Ohmic dissipation, which is very valuable

How?  With positive emotions to change its molecular structure?

:insert emoji where you say somethingsnarky and runthehellaway:

[BacktoCricaddict]

Nail meet coffin?

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02585-7

 

Researchers seem to have solved the puzzle of LK-99. Scientific detective work has unearthed evidence that the material is not a superconductor, and clarified its actual properties.

The conclusion dashes hopes that LK-99 — a compound of copper, lead, phosphorus and oxygen — marked the discovery of the first superconductor that works at room temperature and ambient pressure. Instead, studies have shown that impurities in the material — in particular, copper sulfide — were responsible for the sharp drops in electrical resistivity and partial levitation over a magnet, which looked similar to properties exhibited by superconductors.

[BacktoCricaddict]

https://physicsworld.com/a/superconductivity-damaged-as-researchers-look-to-move-on-from-retractions/

 

Superconductivity ‘damaged’ as researchers look to move on from retractions

Retractions and allegations of scientific misconduct have hampered recent progress in high-temperature superconductivity, as Michael Banks reports

 

[bharathh]

Pity.. Would have been a game changer