Today might have seen the biggest physics discovery of my lifetime. I don't think people fully grasp the implications of an ambient temperature / pressure superconductor. Here's how it could totally change our lives.
8/8 I cannot contain my excitement. It feels like January of 2020 with a huge wave coming that no one realizes yet, but in a much better way. What a time to be alive!! Check out the original paper:
It's as close to official as we'll probably get: LK-99 is likely simply a ferromagnetic material, which explains its levitating properties, according to new research from Peking University.
The room temperature superconductivity revolution will have to wait another day.
1. 100 billion kWh of electricity are wasted on transmission losses each year in the US alone. That's equivalent to 3 of our largest nuclear reactors running 24/7. Superconductivity enables lossless electricity transmission at high voltages and currents.
WE ARE OFFICIALLY BACK
@sineatrix finds a theoretical basis for superconductivity in Cu-doped Lead Apatite.
Isolated flat bands at the Fermi level is a hallmark of superconducting crystals. LK99 has it!!!!
This is huge
2. According to the authors, the LK-99 material can be prepared in about 34 hrs with extremely basic lab equipment (a mortar & pestle, basic vacuum, and furnace). These results could replicate within days-weeks.
6. Your iPhone won't overheat when playing subway surfer with a youtube video in the corner anymore! Ultra-efficient computer chips will have 0 resistive losses during operation with superconductors. No need for cooling fans!!
4. Quantum computers use superconductors to preserve coherence in qubits. Small changes in temperature and pressure can cause the entire QC to fail during operation. Imagine a room temperature quantum computer on your desktop - now possible.
5. Superconductors might be the best batteries out there. Simply inject a current and keep it in the coil until you need it. Previously, too costly to maintain. Now, totally feasible.
3. Nuclear fusion reactors rely on superconductors for plasma confinement. Modern designs use RBCO/YBCO superconductors cooled with LN2 or Liquid He, creating a huge temperature gradient and challenging operation. Ambient superconductors enable a whole host of new reactor designs
Superconductivity research scholars in Korea have officially come together under a "replication committee" to investigate the claims of LK-99. Here is their initial assessment: