I’m very much a layman, but my understanding is that LK-99 itself is not necessarily a superconductor. It’s polycrystalline which means it’s a very uneven mater

I’m very much a layman, but my understanding is that LK-99 itself is not necessarily a superconductor. It’s polycrystalline which means it’s a very uneven material - not all LK-99 is the same. They both didn’t know it was what it was and also couldn’t nail down the procedure for consistently making it so that it has the superconductor properties. It took a long time to get the resources required to investigate this far - the scientists had their own lives and careers and didn’t get back to this particular investigation until recently.