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The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

arxiv.org

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Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#111

Post by mat_epice »

klodolph wrote: post #42
danbruc wrote: post #31

After skimming the paper, it reads like a legitimate paper even though I have zero expertise in the area. That it is in Word instead of LaTeX makes it feel a bit less legitimate to me and they could of course always have some error in there setup. The most notable thing to me was that this was done in a thin film where structural defects are supposedly responsible for strain in the material which in turn enables the…

Word is one of the most common tools for writing papers. There was a study a while back that looked at the quality of Word or Latex papers. The study found that researchers using Word were more effective, and the working theory that explained it was that people who focused on the research did better research, and people focusing on the typesetting do better typesetting.

I can believe that this is true today. As recently as 15 or 20 years ago, Word was awful enough that seeing through significant technical documents was a terrible experience. Horror stories of large corrupted documents and mysterious formatting behaviors were very common.

Today, Word is much more capable as a scientist's tool.

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#113

Post by carabiner »

slashdev wrote: post #21

This is an unreviewed preprint coming out of South Korea. If it’s reproducible it would be the biggest scientific discovery of the last hundred years. It will literally reshape the world. However, the most likely thing is they made a mistake and the paper will be withdrawn. But imagine if it’s true.

South Korea has been desperate for a Nobel prize for a long time. Don't be surprised if they jumped the gun for a false exciting result for national pride.

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#114

Post by aqme28 »

intrasight wrote: post #87

The Sagan standard is the adage that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” (a concept abbreviated as ECREE). But one can hope such evidence is forthcoming. And if it is, then short the oil majors.

The other paper from them claims to have a video of room-temperature magnetic levitation with one of their samples, but I haven't been able to find the link.

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#115

Post by swayvil »

WizardClickBoy wrote: post #112
swayvil wrote: post #103

This is huge. I am stunned and advise withholding judgment until further evidence arrives. My second thought, how does it respond to magnetic fields?

Holding... But I do so badly want this to be true.

Me too.

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#116

Post by LinAGKar »

slashdev wrote: post #66
eterevsky wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the biggest scientific discovery of the last hundred years I would say that electronic computers would take take the first spot for me, but I don't deny that room-temperature superconductors would be pretty close to the top.

I’d say electronic computers were the biggest invention of the last 100 years. But it wasn’t one discovery, that built upon many, many discoveries and breakthroughs. As a singular discovery goes, it’s hard to think of something that tops this. Of course, even if this is true, bringing it to market in a practical way will probably look a lot more like the invention of electronic computers.

The transistor could probably qualify

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#117

Post by Maxion »

Mizza wrote: post #88
JoeMattie wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've made YBCO superconductors in my garage many times and the solid state synthesis method in the paper is very similar to that used by hobbyists. In fact, it seems to not require the usual careful slow annealing under flowing oxygen. I wouldn't be at all surprised if even simpler methods are feasible. For instance, there's a rapid synthesis method for YBCO that uses a small alumina boat, some glass wool, a resident…

Sounds like you've got a very interesting weekend project coming up!

The synthesis section honestly looks very simple, I would assume a simple ceramic kiln could be used?

You just need PbO, PbSO4, Cu, and P powders.

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#118

Post by Sharlin »

allenrb wrote: post #4

If this were true, I would’ve expected to see it on the front page of the New York Times, not hiding in a scientific journal. Color me skeptical, with a hint of optimism.

That’s not how either science or NY Times works. First you write the journal article. Then if it’s peer-reviewed, published and seems otherwise legit, your university writes a more layman-friendly press release. If it’s something huge, they’ll probably even arrange a press conference. But they have to be pretty darn certain that it’s legit because retracting something that’s already in the wild is very embarrassing. Then NY Times may make an article of it.

Science is based on replicability, and you just don’t go straight to mass media before at least other groups have had a chance to replicate your findings. Definitely not when it’s something this big. Or if you do, your institution will likely be incredibly pissed. I’d say that the more careful they are, the more slowly and by the book they proceed with this, the more, not less, likely it is that this is a real deal.

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#119

Post by jakedata »

tomashubelbauer wrote: post #73
jakedata wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was with them until I came across Figure D on page 7. It uses Comic Sans and calls the entire paper into question. Please note: this comment is an attempt at humor. Various people seem to have a difficult time discerning humor or sarcasm and choose to downvote. It is also possible (but unlikely) that I am not funny.

Neither humor nor sarcasm advance interesting conversations on their own IMO.

And yet humor and sarcasm can add spice to the conversation. I really did read the entire paper at the level of detail that allowed me to spot the inconsistency in the font. That was not made up, was substantive and should be corrected before it goes to print.

The PS was also very real as the grandparent gets buried under downvotes.

Re: The first room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor?

#120

Post by nine_k »

rwmj wrote: post #78
eterevsky wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the biggest scientific discovery of the last hundred years I would say that electronic computers would take take the first spot for me, but I don't deny that room-temperature superconductors would be pretty close to the top.

This (or something derived from it) would be used for power delivery literally everywhere in the world. It might well be bigger in scale and volume than all the computers.

I think it's comparing incomparable technologies. Like the wheel and the alphabet; both changed human history in profound ways, without competing with one another.
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