Reproducibility is one of the great strengths of the hard sciences. Put simply, it’s a system of self-investigation, which is anchored by precise measurements that produce quantitative results within a common model of understanding. Transparency among researchers ensures that other scientists can read a study, understand its methods, reanalyze its data, and perform replication studies. So, when research fails to live up to these standards, scientists start to get suspicious, which is why recent claimed breakthroughs in high-temperature superconductors are beginning to raise red flags.
We should point out, up front, that the investigation is ongoing. Scientific articles have been retracted, discrepancies and errors have been admitted, and plagiarism accusations have been made. We don’t know the whole truth yet, but the process is working, and we will find it eventually. Soon, we should know whether apparent anomalies turn out to have acceptable explanations, or whether a wider swath of falsehoods will be removed from the scientific literature.
In 2020, the research group of Professor Ranga Dias published a paper in the prestigious journal Nature. In it, they claimed to have found a new material capable of superconductivity at roughly room temperature. In the 120 years since superconductivity (the ability to perfectly transmit electricity with no resistance) was first observed, every known superconductor required low temperature to work. Mercury was the first, and it only superconducts when colder than five Kelvin above absolute zero. (5 K is – 451° F.)
Throughout the 20th century, researchers found superconductors that could withstand increasing temperature: 10 K, 25 K, and up to as high as 150 K (-190° F). Progress stalled before any superconductor capable of withstanding room temperatures of roughly 295 K (70° F) was found. Dias’ work jumped out as a breakthrough.
The discovery came with a caveat. While the new material — carbonaceous sulfur hydride (CSH) — remained superconducting at room temperature, it did so only under enormous pressures of more than two million atmospheres. (To put that into perspective, the air pressure around us is roughly one atmosphere.) Days ago, Dias’ group announced another room temperature superconductor: lutetium hydride doped with nitrogen (NLH). It supposedly superconducts at room temperature under a pressure of merely ten thousand atmospheres. In theory, this is another major step toward a practical superconductor. Yet the announcement was met with skepticism rather than acclaim.
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