Where will the money flow from here, presuming that the reproduction keeps happening?
Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
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Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#52i wonder if this will become the next version of hopium, where we struggle to refine a material that can actually be used in a wide enough temperature range to operate outside.
The initial paper claimed superconductivity up until 400 K (127 °C or 260 °F), so I think if that's the case it would be able to withstand outdoor conditions just fine
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#53On a completely different front, let's say the paper completely checks out and they have discovered this miracle. How strong are the patent protections on materials science?
For example, if someone could replicate the effect with lead + gold, would that be considered a novel material which would not be subject to licensing? Is it the material itself or the method of production?
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#54>we successfully verify and synthesize the LK-99 crystals which can be magnetically levitated with larger levitated angle than Sukbae Lee's sample at room temperature. It is expected to realize the true potential of room temperature, non-contact superconducting magnetic levitation in near future. Aaaand we’re back! I’m really trying to remain (reasonably, not ideologically) skeptical but if this is legit this is a hu…
At this point, even if this doesn’t turn out to be the holy grail this seems like it would still be a very big step/promising avenue for research on the path right?
IANA physicist, so grain of salt etc. but yes, I agree with your assessment - even if not as impressive as we're all hoping, at the least we have a very promising new vein of superconductor research to mine (as it were).
In other words: even the downside here is great, and the upside is...
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. It's felt like so many of the technological marvels have either happened quietly (e.g. the reductions in chip size) or in the past (e.g. all the physics breakthroughs of the 1900s). Like ChatGPT, this seems to have the characteristics of being both accessible and completely novel.
I feel like the host of “in 30 years we would have X” made 40 years ago are suddenly manifesting.
What is interesting is that assuming it all pans out these are all in entirely unrelated fields. That sets the stage for a whole raft of follow on inventions. Similar to how the telephone + basic electromagnetism led to radio, tv, radar, transistors and ultimately to computers small enough to be practical for businesses, the internet, cell phones and so on.
My grandmother was born in a house without running water, no sanitation and no phone. That's just a bit over a century ago. The rate of change on an annual basis isn't all that large, a decade and you'll see big changes, our world can't be compared at all to 120 years ago in terms of luxury, communications, personal energy budget, food, travel options etc. Still, there are large areas of the planet where the last 120 didn't bring any progress and there are those where they actually went backwards, not rarely to our (the western world for me) benefit.
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#56This makes me so happy for my children and their children. God bless those scientists and all scientists that push our species forward. I'm so lucky to be in my prime at the same time AGI and superconductors become a reality. Wow.
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#57[dead]
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#58Where will the money flow from here, presuming that the reproduction keeps happening?
Almost certainly: improving the ease/consistency of producing this stuff.
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#59On a completely different front, let's say the paper completely checks out and they have discovered this miracle. How strong are the patent protections on materials science? For example, if someone could replicate the effect with lead + gold, would that be considered a novel material which would not be subject to licensing? Is it the material itself or the method of production?
I'm sure it depends on jurisdiction, but in the US, you can't patent a material, only a method to make it.
If I recall correctly, their patent for method covered a wide range of constituent elements, but left off gold. I would feel pretty bad for them if they genuinely discovered an RTP superconductor but that omission prevents them from becoming billionaires.
But more likely the issue is that their current method has lots of room for improvement and someone else finds one that is substantially better.
ETA: apparently wrong, can patent composition of very novel materials.
Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99
#60Why are folks trying to prove that this material is a superconductor in roundabout ways, like levitation, dimagnetism, etc? What is the reason they don't just test to see if electrical current flows without resistance? Surely there is something I am missing here.
My understanding is that synthesis of the exactly right crystal structure is very hard (for every 10 lead atoms, 1 - the exact right one - needs to be substituted with copper), so the samples are small and inhomogeneous. As a result measuring resistivity won't be illuminating until large amounts of perfect material can be produced.