On: Room temperature, ambient pressure superconductivi...

[bandyaboot]

If this confirms, I really hope that the current limitation can be overcome. That would be brutal to actually find a ambient temperature and pressure SC only to have its usefulness for big real world applications be nerfed.

[slashdev → bandyaboot]

I think the most important thing is it proves it can be done.

At one point it was thought impossible to run a 4 minute mile. There were all kinds of scientific sounding explanations why it just couldn’t be done. Then someone did it. Shortly after that, lots of people did it, because now people knew it was possible.

If this is for real, it proves it can be done. Tons of money, work, and innovation will follow once people know the problem can be solved.

[jncfhnb → slashdev]

I’ve heard this repeated. I vaguely recall it at least being a point of discussion in the novel Misery.

But… that seems like such a stupid idea. What evidence could they possibly have suggested?

[zimpenfish → jncfhnb]

I think over time it's developed into one of those Just So stories whereas the reality is probably a bit more prosaic[0]

[0] https://www.scienceofrunning.com/2017/05/the-roger-bannister...

[rasz → jncfhnb]

Dont know about the mile thing, but I can bring another anecdote - modem speeds and breaking 33.6Kbit barrier on ~3.5KHz BW limited wires.

Oral History of Brent Townshend (inventor of 56Kbit PCM modem mode) [Computer History Museum] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqudP6ojEDI&t=6049. Transcript:

they've been trying to get modems to go

faster and there's this whole thing called

shannon information theory which says theoretically given

all the parameters of that copper line

and what's going on that the maximum

speed would be 35 kilobits per second

you can't go faster than that it was

theory they're you know 95 percent of the way to the theoretical

limit and michael had this engineer that

worked with him andy norrell which is like a

genius engineer um he's really amazing

understands modems and everything perfectly and

and michael recounted you know every six

months or so you talk to andy and say

you know you're sure there's no way that

we can go faster andy would say

no you can't go faster than that

this is the limit there's not any way

and so so michael was on the phone with

me and i said i have a way of going

faster and you know well you know a lot

of people think so but we think it's

max p and i say well i've got these

credentials i've been working at Bell Labs

he said wait a second i got to get somebody

else in the room too i get andy and you know

andy comes in on the conference call

and michael asking you know is there

any way to go faster than 33 he says no

35 is the limit and you know theoretically

and i said well you can do it like this you

know i say in like three sentences you

could do this and this and this

and then he says oh yeah that would work

[scarmig → bandyaboot]

If it's confirmed, people will be investigating improving the process for manufacturing LK-99 almost immediately and have some success, as well as looking into similar materials with different doping etc. It's likely that there would be at least some that also exhibit RTP superconductivity, though it's also likely they would share many of LK-99's weaknesses. Though that's all getting ahead of ourselves...

[synapsomorphy → bandyaboot]

The other comments are correct, but I'll add that (if there's actually SC going on) there's not even necessarily a current limitation. Only a current was reported in the paper, not a cross-sectional area, and the sample being used appears to have been a thin film, the thickness of which we have no idea.