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Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

arxiv.org

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Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#771

Post by dmix »

mk_stjames wrote: post #735

This is obviously a quickly produced paper to get the finding out but.... I find there to be so much missing and so many things poorly worded or posed about their process that would have taken zero time to expound upon, it's infuriating. "All the reactions are carried out under 10^-2 Pa" OK, I know they mean 10^-2 of vacuum. But why not say that? "10^-2 Pa" isn't enough. Was this a full vacuum oven? Done in sealed qu…

What personal benefit does this gain someone to publish it so quickly? Is it just social media attention?

Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#772

Post by elil17 »

jurgenaut23 wrote: post #729
elil17 wrote: post #708

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So do you think it's the use of energy in and of itself that causes issues?

Not energy in and of itself. Cheap unlimited energy will just make us push planetary boundaries even further. We need a reduction of human impact on our planet, not an increase of it.

How would fusion increase our impact on the planet? Wouldn't it reduce our impact on the planet by decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide we release and eliminating oil extraction?

Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#773

Post by omgJustTest »

jjallen wrote: post #432

One somewhat ironic fact of this story is that the rogue former employee perhaps deserves some credit for bringing this thing out into the world. They had been working on this for quite a long time themselves, rightfully so. But now the whole world is working on it and exploring other methods and combinations of materials I would assume (to improve upon the original design and avoid any patents). How long would they…

Many of the best and great humans are lost to history without a name.

Fiat lux!

Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#774

Post by great_psy »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #129

For those experiencing this type of "black swan, but good" event for the first time, it is helpful to recognize that the human tendency to believe that all future "big events" will be dystopian downers, is statistically unsound. For a while I've kept a list of the things that could be "good" swan events, but to be fair I didn't have "room temperature superconductor on that list" :-) Other things that could happen: 1)…

It feels like humanity is walking the very thin line separating utter utopia and absolute hell.

And as technology is getting better, both of those outcomes become more probable.

Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#777

Post by senttoschool »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #684
senttoschool wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Good rigorous science takes time to produce. It can take anywhere between several months to a year or more, and the career implications for rushing something out that is later found lacking is not great. Implying that Chinese science is bad? Chinese universities absolutely dominate in chemistry: https://www.nature.com/nature-index/institution-outputs/gene... By my count, 18/20 top universities for chemistry researc…

That's an oddly defensive take.

Only because I was responding to an oddly offensive take.

Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#778

Post by fwipsy »

MetaWhirledPeas wrote: post #713
constantcrying wrote: post #598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there are multiple big reasons they didn't publish sooner. It is pretty clear that they were convinced, but had insufficient evidence to convince others. Additionally there had recently been a sensational fraud in their field so journals would have been extremely sceptical. It seems to me they were just in the process of constructing a convincing paper, which included convincing tests and could have been acom…

> I think there are multiple big reasons they didn't publish sooner. It is pretty clear that they were convinced, but had insufficient evidence to convince others. Additionally there had recently been a sensational fraud in their field so journals would have been extremely sceptical. But hasn't it been 24 years since they discovered LK-99? Or am I missing something? If that's true wouldn't it be a tragic shame that i…

It was originally discovered in 1999 but was shelved for over a decade due to insufficient funding. As I understand it, they only received funding in 2018 and became more confident in their discovery after that.

Here is some (speculative?) backstory: https://twitter.com/8teAPi/status/1684385895565365248

It is a tragic shame in hindsight, but no doubt there are many earth-shattering discoveries lying within reach, if only we knew where to look.

Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#779

Post by yellow_postit »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #767
pmoriarty wrote: post #764

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how sure are we that this isn't yet another in a long line of disappointments?

Currently 39% sure. https://manifold.markets/QuantumObserver/will-the-lk99-room-...

What’s the track record of open prediction markets (no barrier to join) vs super predictor markets (have some requirements - be it credentials, proven expertise, or track records)?

I keep seeing markets like this posted for LK99 and personally find it unconvincing more than a sentiment analysis of the twitter and news hype cycle.

Re: Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

#780

Post by jacquesm »

dmix wrote: post #771
mk_stjames wrote: post #735

This is obviously a quickly produced paper to get the finding out but.... I find there to be so much missing and so many things poorly worded or posed about their process that would have taken zero time to expound upon, it's infuriating. "All the reactions are carried out under 10^-2 Pa" OK, I know they mean 10^-2 of vacuum. But why not say that? "10^-2 Pa" isn't enough. Was this a full vacuum oven? Done in sealed qu…

What personal benefit does this gain someone to publish it so quickly? Is it just social media attention?

There are no prizes for being second in science.
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