cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/2999441

I’m not plugged into all the hype around lk99, but this person seems to be a nice balance of hype, technical background and eagerness to not be wrong about things.

They seem to make a good and simple case for why the superconductor possibility is slipping away (as far as mostly internet hype based replication attempts go)

  • FaceDeer
    8•1 year ago

    anybody that discovers how to do this is going to be debilitatingly rich forever. And they’re going to treat it as such.

    But that exact same argument can explain why the discoverers of a room-temperature superconductor would rush to get their results out.

    See for example the Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell telephone controversy. There was a race to the patent office, Bell won the battle, and Gray vanished into obscurity.

    • Dr. DabblesEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      That would only be true if there’s a race to report the discovery, and there isn’t. Which is another red flag.

      • FaceDeer
        3•1 year ago

        There were duelling papers released within hours of each other. One of the researchers involved says that they had to release before they were ready due to an “incident.” There certainly seems to be something going on behind the scenes that could be described as a race to report the discovery, if only within the one group of discoverers.