Let’s see other researchers replicate this. People can be hopeful amd even excited, but we need to be leery of unverified claims.
I am super glad this isn’t out of China because I’d be already dismissing it.
So I read the paper. Here’s a tldr about how their material apparently gains its properties.
It is hypothesized that superconductivity properties emerge from very specific strains induced in the material. Hence why most of the discovered superconductors require either to be cooled down to very low temperatures, or to be under high pressure. Both shrink the material.
What this paper claims is that they have achieved a similar effect chemically by replacing some lead ions with copper ions, which are a bit smaller (87 pm for Cu vs 133 pm for Pb). This shrinks the material by 0.48%, and that added strain induces superconductivity. This is why it apparently works at room temperature — you no longer need high pressures or extreme cold to create the needed deformation.
Can’t really comment on how actually feasible or long-lasting this effect is, but it looks surprisingly promising. At least as a starting point for future experiments. Can’t wait for other labs’ reproduction attempts. If it turns out to be true, this is an extremely important and world-changing discovery.
That’s super cool! Hopefully it can be confirmed in other labs soon.
Then the next big hurdle will be figuring out a way to mass produce it in a cost-effective manner.
What’s very cool is that the recipe in the paper is trivial. It’s just lead, phosphorus, and copper, fired in a kiln under a vacuum. With a couple hundred dollars of equipment, one could even attempt to make this at home (wouldn’t recommend with the powdered lead tho).
So if the claim holds up true, mass producing it should be quick.
That said, the lead makes this material not fit for use for a lot of applications due to its toxicity.
Big, if true.
If at all true this would be world-changing news.
I’ll believe it when science Youtubers start making videos on it.
There already is a youtube video of the purported Meissner effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtVjGWpbE7k
And this is a piece magnetically levitating. Could still be faked, but this is more than the usual “after massaging the numbers there’s a trace of a barely discernible effect” stuff that you usually find in faked or otherwise misinterpreted results.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=EtVjGWpbE7k
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
