The JYT finally notices the most important discovery of the century, gets a new LK-99 video and shares it.

https://twitter.com/floates0x/status/1687190672280096768

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/science/lk-99-superconductor-ambient.html

The jiggle is bizarre. If it's not Meissner, that's a hoax. If it's Meissner, the effect is strongly biased towards one end and the repulsion is very strong. It also rotates with the magnet. If it's a hoax- at this point, wtf. Would be the end of all scientific reputibility in SK for life.

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Any time I've seen the old YouTube show me vids of real superconductors the levitation trick looks way different. When a superconductor is levitating over a magnet it appears to be "locked" in place within the field where you place it. If you move the conductor across the field and leave it it stays where you left it. Example, you can adjust the distance/height of the levitation, let go, and the conductor will remain in space where you leave it.

This LK-99 vids always show the conductor bouncing erratically through the field with a slight touch as if the material wants to be at some kind of equilibrium point within the magnetic field where it only just counteracts gravity.

Maybe this isn't supposed to happen with room temp superconductors or something but it looks fake as frick to me.

Here's a video example:

In this the conductor is the base and the magnet is floating whereas in the LK99 video the magnet is the base and the conductor is floating but you can see the massive difference in behaviour regardless.

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I think the "locking" effect is flux pinning, which occurs when a type-II superconductor is between its two critical temperatures and allows some magnetic field lines to penetrate it. Below both critical temperatures, the effect is purely repulsive because all magnetic field lines are expelled (the Meissner effect).

All these levitation videos are really inconclusive by themselves. Some other lab needs to replicate LK-99 expelling field lines when crossing its critical temperature, or its resistance dropping to zero, or something else that is unmistakably superconducting.

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Agree it looks sus. Man that lil guys science videos are so good though, I've never seen this one but that ferrofluid thing was really neat

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