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A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

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Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#411

Post by jldugger »

elfbargpt wrote: post #77
7moritz7 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have seen three now from China alone. Plus a calculation from some respected institute from today that confirms the theory

Throughout this whole saga I've had this feeling that at the very least we can rely on China to really pursue this new development to it's logical end. It's kind of sad, but I don't think I can say the same about the US at this moment. You know for a fact China's going to JUMP on this, figure out if it works or not, and iterate.

> You know for a fact China's going to JUMP on this, figure out if it works or not, and iterate.

Doesn't China also have a huge incentive problem in research? I've seen plenty of stories about low impact journals feeding the system with the publications it demands, regardless of quality of results.

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#412

Post by lolinder »

DistractionRect wrote: post #368
xutopia wrote: post #313

I'm not a scientist but how does this demonstrate anything? It just looks like a magnet is moving some metallic object. Can someone explain like I'm a five year old?

So what's happening is they are demonstrating diamagnetism. Basically when exposed to an external magnetic field, that field induces a response in the material that repels it. When people think of magnetism, they think of polar charges that either attract or repel other polar charges. Diamagnetism is neat in that regardless of the orientation and polarity of the external field, a diamagnetic material is always repell…

So why is everyone getting so excited about superconductors when all we actually know is this (probably) exhibits diamagnetism? Is diamagnetism super rare outside of superconductors?

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#413

Post by andrepd »

lost_tourist wrote: post #297
natechols wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that has been constant for at least a decade or more is that every time a lab in China publishes even an incremental advance, a legion of internet commenters descends to declare the end of US hegemony because Americans didn't discover it first.

Yep "it's the end of science in the barbaric Western nations" crowd.

Which is not to say that science in the capitalist western nations is not going through rough times, because it is?

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#414

Post by bluGill »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #304
orangepurple wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has more people, more money to spend on research, more equipment, more access to raw materials and chemicals, more manufacturing base, more STEM graduates, more everything, and all of that by huge margins. USA scientists will eventually put something out, but 10x more slowly than China.

All the smart people in the US work in tech and finance. If you have a big ole' brain, why would you take $80k to work in some crumby lab when you can get paid $350k to maintain a login screen from the comfort of your mountain side home.

When you work in a lab you have more ability to work on what you want to. Well at least once you get to the top of the lab - many spend a lifetime working on the interesting problems someone else is interested in but never reach the top where they are in charge. Meanwhile many people who work in tech are able to work on problems they find interesting enough (maybe not the most interesting, but still interesting) and they get paid well for it. Still if you want to work on some problems a lab is the best change to get there.

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#415

Post by andersa »

failuser wrote: post #316
dclowd9901 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Levitates? Against, what, the earth's inherent magnetic field? Sorry, I haven't seen any visuals that show this behavior.

Levitation in magnetic itself is not the proof. Frogs can do that too, ask Geim. The proof would be levitation in any orientation.

When do we start building things out of superconducting frogs?

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#416

Post by cperciva »

nwiswell wrote: post #317
bufferoverflow wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People cut cables for copper. Imagine what will happen with cables with gold.

It would be sub-10%* gold content. We're talking about gold doping, specifically substitution in the Pb(1) site, not an alloy. ETA: I was off by an order of magnitude (originally I said sub-1%) because the doping is extensive, and the mass of the lead/gold is a dominant fraction of the total. The formula given in the paper is (subscripts in brackets): Pb[10−x]Cu[x](PO4)[6]O with 0.9 Similarly for Au we would have Pb[…

The superconductor itself would be 7.44% gold, but the wire would probably be much less -- superconducting tape isn't particularly strong so it will probably be wrapped up in layers of insulator and support wires.

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#417

Post by csteubs »

nwiswell wrote: post #317
bufferoverflow wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People cut cables for copper. Imagine what will happen with cables with gold.

It would be sub-10%* gold content. We're talking about gold doping, specifically substitution in the Pb(1) site, not an alloy. ETA: I was off by an order of magnitude (originally I said sub-1%) because the doping is extensive, and the mass of the lead/gold is a dominant fraction of the total. The formula given in the paper is (subscripts in brackets): Pb[10−x]Cu[x](PO4)[6]O with 0.9 Similarly for Au we would have Pb[…

Having to handle lead for a practically unretrievable amount of gold would (I hope) be enough of a deterrent for the vast majority of "citizen scrappers". Worst case, I think a Pb/Au scrap grey-market would look something like the current catalytic converter market, where raw materials are purchased at set rate by an intermediary and then sold for further processing. Most people know there's gold in their computer parts, but still opt for the recycling bin/ziploc bag in a junk drawer.

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#418

Post by jtchang »

The ramifications of the inflection point we are currently at is mind boggling. I had a hard time explaining this last night but we may very well be witnessing the beginnings of a technological transformation era much like when the p-n junction was invented. From the 1940s standpoint it would be hard to envision all we had today.

- Lossless transport of energy - Batteries that don't take any time to recharge - Faster CPUs. Much faster with no heat to burn your lap.

Can I have my flying car now?

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#419

Post by carabiner »

gtsnexp wrote: post #338

Failed attempt to replicate: Semiconducting transport in Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O sintered from Pb2SO5 and Cu3P https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2307/2307.16802.pdf

Good reason to believe what the Chinese synthesized is far way from what the Koreans characterize as LK-99: https://twitter.com/robert_palgrave/status/16863940964101488...

They tested a different substance.

Re: A room-temperature superconductor? New developments

#420

Post by dang »

irthomasthomas wrote: post #388
dang wrote: post #309

The major threads so far, in reverse order—have I missed any? Huazhong University demonstrates LK-99 diamagnetism - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36953819 - Aug 1, 2023 (265 comments) LK-99 crystal verified to be magnetically levitated (with video) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36953396 - Aug 1, 2023 (10 comments) Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor LK-99 preprint revision 2 - https://new…

Any idea why the Science article links to a HN post as the source? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36953396 (10 comments)

Ok, I've added 36953396 to the above list - thanks!

Why did Derek Lowe link to HN? Who knows - maybe he noticed all the traffic this place has sent him, or how loved his articles are here!

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