Name: Superconductor Breakthroughs: Why Investors Are So Interested in Them | WSJ
Uploaded: 2023-10-03T06:56:53.000Z
Duration: 5 min 43 s
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of advances aren't as far away as we think.

They all hinge on one thing, a room-temperature,

ambient pressure superconductor, and in July,

some scientists claimed to have found just that,

with a perceived connection to superconductors soaring.

really could mean longer lasting batteries for our devices,

It could mean more efficient electrical grids.

It could mean improved high speed trains.

of our daily life that a room-temperature,

ambient pressure superconductor wouldn't touch

to bring such a superconductor to market.

When electricity flows from one place to another,

it travels along some type of conductor, usually a metal.

Those conductors put up some resistance, which results

in some of the energy being lost as heat.

That's why your phone or computer can get really warm.

Superconductors eliminate that resistance

if they conduct electric current perfectly,

- [Narrator] But these materials typically only work

as roughly negative 320 degrees Fahrenheit

If you're using copper and it has a little bit of loss

but the superconductor is much more expensive

the question is whether it's gonna be useful or not.

superconductors, as they exist today, are used

in limited circumstances, for example, MRI machines

but there's also been investment in broader uses.

The Departments of Energy and Homeland Security

have funded initiatives to create more resilient power grids

in Chicago that uses liquid nitrogen to keep cables cool.

- Ultimately, the reason why people are so interested

in this space in terms of investment especially

It would make it so that magnetically levitating trains

were more accessible, cheaper to build, more efficient.

It would make it so that our electrical grids

- [Narrator] Because superconductors potentially

finding one that can work at room-temperature

and ambient pressure has become a holy grail

A group led by scientists at the University of Rochester

claimed to make a major breakthrough in March.

A superconductor made of rare-earth material combined

with nitrogen and hydrogen that they said worked

but the lead researcher has come under scrutiny.

and worked at room temperature and ambient pressure.

Videos of the substance floating above a magnet,

a hallmark of superconductivity, circulated online.

But those papers, written by researchers who mostly worked

for the privately held Quantum Energy Research Center,

and many scientists say LK-99 is just a magnet

- Many groups had difficulty replicating the experiment.

- [Narrator] The Quantum Energy Research Center

Still, the enthusiasm for the July research

triggered big stock swings for companies like SuNAM,

Before a room-temperature, ambient pressure superconductor

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Superconductor Breakthroughs: Why Investors Are So Interested in Them | WSJ

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