31–40 of 303 posts
I think that there's no reason to assume that negative results right now are conclusive, whereas positive results are strongly indicative.
I keep expecting to see coverage of this in what some would term the "mainstream" press but it's crickets. I refuse to believe that they're waiting for more results either, even the more reputable publications will carry junk science. At the very least there's an interesting story to tell in the publishing of the paper.
I think they've done their "exciting breakthrough" piece and now it's not very news worthy.
So basically is looking like mostly a no? The replications haven't been encouraging so far.
A clear no would be multiple sources synthesizing a material that is clearly the same as LK-99 (e.g. by showing most or all of the behavior shown in the videos or described in one of the papers), and then showing experimentally that it isn't actually a superconductor but that some other effect is at play.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hard to say. The samples that didn't achieve diamagnetism don't tell us much except that creating LK-99 is tricky, which is not a big deal. If someone can show both diamagnetism and prove that it is not a superconductor then that would be pretty discouraging.
Hm, but diamagnetism in itself doesn't mean that it's a superconductor, no? There are a few diamagnetic materials that aren't superconductors, AFAIK.
this video sent by one of the original authors to the NY Times is the most significant peace of evidence to me: https://vp.nyt.com/video/2023/08/03/110377_1_03superconducto...
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Couldn't this be explained by magnetism alone? How does it show superconductivity?
Magnetic levitation can't be done with normal magnets alone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnshaw%27s_theorem TL;DR: Normal magnets have two poles, and will try to flip themselves around to achieve a lower energy state. You cannot levitate a normal magnet on another magnet without mechanical stabilization. Superconducting materials actively repel all magnetic field lines and can achieve levitation without external…
Technically it can be done with an array of magnets with opposing polarities.
Without more details from on this video's source and legitimacy, one could argue that an array of magnets is hiding under the 'single magnet' cover plate.
I am not saying this is a hoax, but as exciting as this seems we just have to wait it out for more replication publications to make that call.
So basically is looking like mostly a no? The replications haven't been encouraging so far.
Two reports have increased my patience factor a lot on this First, a theoretical study found that the phase that’s reported to be superconducting is likely to be metastable based on some density functional theory calculations. That implies that actually making it may be rather difficult, and raises the bar for reproductions to show exactly what they are finding is superconducting or not. https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.16…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Couldn't this be explained by magnetism alone? How does it show superconductivity?
Magnetic levitation can't be done with normal magnets alone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnshaw%27s_theorem TL;DR: Normal magnets have two poles, and will try to flip themselves around to achieve a lower energy state. You cannot levitate a normal magnet on another magnet without mechanical stabilization. Superconducting materials actively repel all magnetic field lines and can achieve levitation without external…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Couldn't this be explained by magnetism alone? How does it show superconductivity?
Magnetic levitation can't be done with normal magnets alone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnshaw%27s_theorem TL;DR: Normal magnets have two poles, and will try to flip themselves around to achieve a lower energy state. You cannot levitate a normal magnet on another magnet without mechanical stabilization. Superconducting materials actively repel all magnetic field lines and can achieve levitation without external…
The mechanical stabilisation is right there in plain sight where one side of the magnet is clearly resting on the other magnet (physically in contact). Anyone who’s played around with magnets that are heavy and too weak to flip themselves around will not be satisfied with this video. It could be explained by two South Poles opposing each other.
So basically is looking like mostly a no? The replications haven't been encouraging so far.
My takeaway is that nobody, not even the original authors, knows a good, easily replicable way to make LK-99. A clear no would be multiple sources synthesizing a material that is clearly the same as LK-99 (e.g. by showing most or all of the behavior shown in the videos or described in one of the papers), and then showing experimentally that it isn't actually a superconductor but that some other effect is at play.