High-temperature superconductivity is one of the holy grails of physics. It also seems to attract a steady stream of controversy, with a recent string of retracted papers and provocative claims that haven’t held up to scrutiny.
Superconductivity is the name physicists give to an unusual phenomenon in which a material is able to conduct electricity with no resistance. While the effect has been known for more than a century, so far superconductivity has only been found to occur at incredibly low temperatures. And in the few cases where it’s been achieved at anything approaching the balminess of a winter’s day in Antarctica, it’s required mind-bogglingly high pressure comparable to the pressure deep in the Earth’s core.
The stakes are enormous: If superconductors worked at anything close to room temperature, it could lead to everything from levitating trains and improved MRI scanners to better energy storage devices and more efficient electronics in general. Perhaps because of that potential, the field has spawned a great deal of hype, often accompanied by disappointment.
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In July 2023, scientists in South Korea claimed to have found a room-temperature superconductor that they named LK-99; however, other scientists failed to replicate the team’s results. Undark has also reported on an ongoing controversy surrounding the work of University of Rochester physicist Ranga Dias, three of whose papers have been retracted within the last two years — two in the journal Nature and one in Physical Review Letters. (Two of the three papers involved superconductivity. In August, the New York Times reported that Dias was under investigation by his university.)
Even so, excitement continues to…
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