3 ms·
A 110k superconductor would not be revolutionary since we already have some in that vicinity.
by downWidOutaFite 3y ago
A 110k superconductor would not be revolutionary since we already have some in that vicinity.
- slavetologic 3y agoThat's what I'm not understanding about this frenzy. Seems like this already kind of exists?
- internetter 3y agoThe original report is billed as a "room temperature superconductor" (iirc up to 28c). If it is indeed a superconductor at room temperature, it would be the first of it's kind and enable functional usages for superconductors previously impossible.
- dgoldstein0 3y agoThe original claim was Tc of 127c - above the boiling point of water. Plenty of reason to doubt it though. Of course I'm hoping it's real.
- internetter 3y agoWow, that's crazy! I guess I missed the 1 in front. I'd say the more I read the more optimistic I become. Fingers crossed!!
- modeless 3y agoAn entirely new category of superconductor could well be revolutionary even at this temperature, for several reasons. It could be the first one of a family with variants that go up to room temperature. It could be cheaper to produce or have other desirable properties for commercial applications. And it could lead to advances in theory that would allow prediction of other unknown superconductors.
- brianpan 3y agoThis is not about 110K, this is about trying to verify the results related to LK-99. The LK-99 that is room temp superconductive seems quite difficult to produce at this early stage. But these researchers were able to produce their not-as-good version of LK-99 and at least verify very close to superconductivity at 110K. This makes the LK-99 room temp superconductivity claims that much more plausible.
- TillE 3y agoExactly. There are too many unknowns to draw any kind of real conclusions, but everything so far still supports a position of cautious optimism. What we know is that LK-99 looks pretty interesting. Is it a room-temperature superconductor? Maybe!
- belltaco 3y agoFirst, at a minimum it validates that the researchers found a novel rare superconductor at ambient pressure, and are not frauds. Second, the new mechanism of superconductivity may lead scientists to explore other materials with similar properties that may work better. Third, the synthesis may not be completely spot on yet. It has been just 4 days of attempting replication, and this result is pretty good in that context.
- kamranjon 3y agoIs my understanding correct that 100k at ambient pressure is pretty special on its own?
- downWidOutaFite 3y agoYBCO and BSCCO are superconductors around 100K at ambient pressure. Unfortunately their brittleness limits their practical use. Maybe LK-99 will have better mechanical properties.
- adrian_b 3y agoUnfortunately no. In this paper it is mentioned that the fact that the material is very fragile made it difficult to obtain pieces of a consistent size and form for measurements. Moreover, from the results of the theoretical papers it is suggested that perhaps this material would work best as a monocrystal, with anisotropic conduction properties. That could still have very important applications, but not for making cables or coils.