Why The Internet Got Excited About Superconductors

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If you’ve been spending a lot of time following techies on social media in the past few weeks, you might have heard about LK-99. This is a substance whose “recipe” was published by researchers in late July, along with claims that it could act as a superconductor at room temperatures, something that hasn’t been discovered before. As materials scientists and hobbyists alike rushed to recreate LK-99 in their labs, tech luminaries like Spotify founder Daniel Ek and “SPAC King” Chamath Palihapitiya were publicly touting the latest developments on social media, along with hordes of science and tech enthusiasts.

Why so much interest? Because superconductors don’t generate any heat when electricity flows through them, and they can be used to make compact and powerful electromagnets–it’d be hard to build MRIs without them. But most of them also need to be kept at near absolute zero, a bulky and expensive proposition. At room temperatures, they’d be ideal for improving lots of green technologies by boosting energy efficiency and battery life. They could also boost prospects for technologies like magnetically levitating high-speed trains and nuclear fusion plants.

Unfortunately, it so far looks like that LK-99 is not, in fact, a superconductor at all, though it may have some other interesting properties. But the internet’s momentary obsession with the material highlights a real optimism towards the discovery of a technology that could move a wide swathe of industries forward.

The Big Read

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The Big Transportation Story

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Sustainability Deals Of The Week

Research Satellite: Launch provider Rocket Lab has signed a contract with NASA to launch two satellites into low-Earth orbit for the space agency’s PREFIRE mission, which is geared towards gathering data to inform ice and climate change models.

Solar Modules: California-based Caelux, which is manufacturing a line of more cost-effective solar modules that can drop into existing panel manufacturing processes, announced it has raised a $12 million series A3 round led by Temasek.

Energy Recovery: Sapphire Technologies, which is developing a solution to generate clean electricity by harvesting waste energy, announced it has raised a $10 million series B round led by Energy Capital Ventures.