4 ms·

The fun part about this is how easy things are to grasp even though I have zero background in the science.

kijin 3y ago
It certainly doesn't hurt that this thing levitates. No need to squint into a microscope, parse a screen full of numbers, or try to make sense of false-color renderings. Either you have video proof of a levitating object, or you don't. The demonstration is as intuitive as it gets, despite the fact that the theory is crazy difficult to wrap one's head around.
- itsarnavb 3y ago
  And the techniques to produce the material are not too crazy, all within reach of sufficiently dedicated amateurs
- dclowd9901 3y ago
  Levitates? Against, what, the earth's inherent magnetic field? Sorry, I haven't seen any visuals that show this behavior.
  - failuser 3y ago
    Levitation in magnetic itself is not the proof. Frogs can do that too, ask Geim. The proof would be levitation in any orientation.
    - _0ffh 3y ago
      > Frogs can do that too One even did that on the cover of Nature, iirc.
    - andersa 3y ago
      When do we start building things out of superconducting frogs?
    - jacquesm 3y ago
      Using a 'slightly' stronger magnetic field...
    - zbobet2012 3y ago
      Only over an electromagnet, not a fixed one (to our knowledge). Digmagnetic levitation requires more than one magnet or an electromagnet. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation
  - marshray 3y ago
    Over a handheld neodymium magnet. None of the videos have yet shown complete 'levitation', they all have a corner on the surface. But still, not behavior that anyone has ever seen from lead before.
    - rvnx 3y ago
      But couldn't it just be a magnet ? I don't understand how it's a proof. You can already do what is in the video (and even better), with for example, pyrolitic carbon ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolytic_carbon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolytic_carbon
      - aeneasmackenzie 3y ago
        It’s not proof, but if it wasn’t even diamagnetic it would be over. It couldn't just be a magnet, it is repelled from both ends of a normal magnet, according to Chinese lab videos you can find in the thread.
      - marshray 3y ago
        Lead weighs a lot more than pyrolytic carbon.
      - zarzavat 3y ago
        Have you seen videos of pyrolytic carbon? A thin sliver of it barely hovers on top of a huge magnet. It doesn’t stand erect. Same effect as LK99 but much smaller magnitude.
      - zbobet2012 3y ago
        No, digmagnetic of levitation requires multiple magnets in a halbac array: https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=diamagnetic-levitation https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=diamagnetic-levitatio... https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apm/article/9/10/101107/1061600/Photothermal-actuation-of-levitated-pyrolytic https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apm/article/9/10/101107/1061600/Pho...

It certainly doesn't hurt that this thing levitates. No need to squint into a microscope, parse a screen full of numbers, or try to make sense of false-color renderings. Either you have video proof of a levitating object, or you don't. The demonstration is as intuitive as it gets, despite the fact that the theory is crazy difficult to wrap one's head around.

itsarnavb 3y ago
And the techniques to produce the material are not too crazy, all within reach of sufficiently dedicated amateurs
dclowd9901 3y ago
Levitates? Against, what, the earth's inherent magnetic field? Sorry, I haven't seen any visuals that show this behavior.
- failuser 3y ago
  Levitation in magnetic itself is not the proof. Frogs can do that too, ask Geim. The proof would be levitation in any orientation.
  - _0ffh 3y ago
    > Frogs can do that too One even did that on the cover of Nature, iirc.
  - andersa 3y ago
    When do we start building things out of superconducting frogs?
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    Using a 'slightly' stronger magnetic field...
  - zbobet2012 3y ago
    Only over an electromagnet, not a fixed one (to our knowledge). Digmagnetic levitation requires more than one magnet or an electromagnet. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation
- marshray 3y ago
  Over a handheld neodymium magnet. None of the videos have yet shown complete 'levitation', they all have a corner on the surface. But still, not behavior that anyone has ever seen from lead before.
  - rvnx 3y ago
    But couldn't it just be a magnet ? I don't understand how it's a proof. You can already do what is in the video (and even better), with for example, pyrolitic carbon ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolytic_carbon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolytic_carbon
    - aeneasmackenzie 3y ago
      It’s not proof, but if it wasn’t even diamagnetic it would be over. It couldn't just be a magnet, it is repelled from both ends of a normal magnet, according to Chinese lab videos you can find in the thread.
    - marshray 3y ago
      Lead weighs a lot more than pyrolytic carbon.
    - zarzavat 3y ago
      Have you seen videos of pyrolytic carbon? A thin sliver of it barely hovers on top of a huge magnet. It doesn’t stand erect. Same effect as LK99 but much smaller magnitude.
    - zbobet2012 3y ago
      No, digmagnetic of levitation requires multiple magnets in a halbac array: https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=diamagnetic-levitation https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=diamagnetic-levitatio... https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apm/article/9/10/101107/1061600/Photothermal-actuation-of-levitated-pyrolytic https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apm/article/9/10/101107/1061600/Pho...