Superconductor Smackdown: Breakthrough or ‘Probable Fraud’? (#309)

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Physics, Natural Sciences, Science

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Please support the podcast by taking our short listener survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/intotheimpossible Watch the video of this episode here: https://youtu.be/hbER0AnwXD4?subconfirmation=1 Here come maglev trains, fusion reactors, cheap MRI scanners in every clinic…. Or not? Since the discovery of superconductors in 1911 by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, earning the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physics, they have been the subject of much fascination and inquiry. Some of the greatest minds in physics have grappled with how superconductivity works to drive electrical resistance to 0. The 1972 Nobel prize in Physics was awarded to John Bardeen, Leon Neil Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer "for their BCS theory of superconductivity. Now the race is on to get the highest temperature superconductor possible; another Nobel Prize was awarded just for getting the temperature up to 35K or -396 Fahrenheit! So superconducting has remained impractical, until now... Maybe! The HUGE claim: zero resistance, at temperatures up to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Is it a scientific breakthrough, or is it very probably fraud? 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:11 Eisenhower’s warning https://youtu.be/mHDgsh6WPyc?t=562 00:01:55 Jorge Hersch and High Tc Superconductors 00:04:32 Conflict between Hersch and Diaz 00:06:25 What is a superconductor? 00:20:45 Cooper Pairs and Quantum Effects 00:25:00 100 years of superconducting materials 00:28:13 The experiment and the diamond anvil! 00:33:31 The Unearthly Materials Controversy 00:40:00 Academic Freedom and Moderation 00:43:26 Conclusions and Takeaways Sources https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05742-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05294-9 https://www.unearthlymaterials.com/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/17/unearthly-materials-superconductors-investors/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALsG2YvRnsu4H0m6ds6fJexDuCNHetasRbCFcu_DbioYuWHi0WKx7idn5wM3Uz2Ko12Zc-4U6SuufQHLbq-QbdfCqzDwEhObBA4bw9BB_rVisKKZTufyfmbPBi_4Oe1kOnBGVIdFjlK9SAOc0yAGRPAPfN1LIdvZ5bdTutI9wP5b https://undark.org/2023/03/27/a-potential-triumph-in-physics-dogged-by-accusation-and-doubt/ Subscribe to the Jordan Harbinger Show for amazing content from Apple’s best podcast of 2018! https://www.jordanharbinger.com/podcasts Please leave a rating and review: On Apple devices, click here, https://apple.co/39UaHlB On Spotify it’s here: https://spoti.fi/3vpfXok On Audible it’s here https://tinyurl.com/wtpvej9v Find other ways to rate here: https://briankeating.com/podcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating or become a Member on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join To advertise with us, contact advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome everyone to this solo episode of Into the Impossible, Superconductors Showdown.
0:15.8	Here come Maglev bullet trains, ultra cheap electricity, desktop MRI scanners in every clinic, even small fusion reactors or not. Since
0:21.8	the discovery of superconductors in 1911 by Heike Camberling Onus, earning
0:26.3	him the 1913 Nobel Prize of physics, it's been the subject of much fascination, speculation,
0:31.5	and inquiry.
0:32.6	Some of the greatest minds of physics have grappled
0:34.6	with how superconductivity works
0:36.5	to drive electrical resistance to zero,
0:38.8	and two more Nobel Prizes have won.
0:41.6	Alas, superconductivity has required super cold temperatures and super high
0:47.2	pressures making it impractical. Until now. Maybe.
0:53.0	Ryan Gondas and his team at the University of Rochester, New York,
0:57.0	has published a paper on their breakthrough creation of red matter,
1:00.0	a room-temperature superconductor triggering a firestorm of criticism.
1:04.4	Is this a case of no bellworthy science?
1:07.2	Fraud or folly?
1:09.7	Is cancel culture getting in the way?
1:12.2	Listen to Professor Keating's in-depth presentation of the controversy
1:15.6	and form your own opinion.
1:17.0	And please, keep into the impossible in your feed
1:20.2	by subscribing and following.
1:22.0	And for some extra credit,
	...

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