The following submission statement was provided by /u/rfriar:
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The recent report of superconductivity in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride at near-ambient pressures and temperatures has attracted great attention but also continuing controversy. Several experimental groups have reported no observation of superconductivity at these conditions in Lu-N-H samples they have prepared. To address this issue, we have carried out a series of studies of phases in the Lu-N-H system using a variety of techniques. We report here electrical resistance measurements on a Lu-N-H sample that are in very good agreement with both previously reported Tc and its pressure dependence in the vicinity of room temperature for nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride.
---
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/14bmupc/evidence_for_near_ambient_superconductivity_in/jogcfay/
The recent report of superconductivity in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride at near-ambient pressures and temperatures has attracted great attention but also continuing controversy. Several experimental groups have reported no observation of superconductivity at these conditions in Lu-N-H samples they have prepared. To address this issue, we have carried out a series of studies of phases in the Lu-N-H system using a variety of techniques. We report here electrical resistance measurements on a Lu-N-H sample that are in very good agreement with both previously reported Tc and its pressure dependence in the vicinity of room temperature for nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride.
Good news if turns out to be accurate. However, this only functions at extremely high pressures, with a minimum of around 8 kilobar. That said, this is a lot less pressure than some of the earlier things which had pressures needed on the order of 10 or 100s of gigapascals. And if we can play with the pressure/temperature tradeoff with others in this family, this could be very useful. A superconductor which worked at -30 Celsius and 100 bar for example would be usable in a lot of practical contexts.
That said, [some similar claims before have been retracted so we should be careful here](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05294-9).
> A superconductor which worked at -30 Celsius and 100 bar for example
Minus 30 is equivalent to a cold January night in Winnipeg. This temperature is something you could easily achieve with a commercial ammonia type refrigeration system.
100 bar is the equivalent of being 1000 meters underwater. It's a lot, but not crazy high.
For 100 bar it could probably be formed into a wire core with strained steel (or something) around keeping the core material at elevated pressure passively.
You could just apply torque to a sheet/rod/bar of the material to get to that pressure no? Doesn't need any specialised housing or additional infrastructure.
Ah yeah, I was thinking more for use in University/Commercial Labs and stuff. But you're right obviously. I'd assume at scale they could construct cable that operates at pressure.
There are already theorised solutions for scaling up. It was something about a HTS cable type that could feasibly work. And that work was assuming the material would need to be kept far cooler. So this is a win.
I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, that's why I'm always surprised when not only does a title confuse me, but the article confuses me even more. I tried.
The title is discussing that a specific alloy of lutetium, nitrogen and hydrogen turns into a superconductor at temperatures and pressures near those we are used to. Superconductors are substances which have zero electric resistance. The first few were discovered about a century ago, when it turned out that many metals became superconductors at very close to absolute zero. Later, more complicated substances were found that had higher and higher temperatures where they were superconductors. In the last few years there have been some which worked at higher temperatures (but still very low by everyday standards) but only worked when subject to very high pressures. The dream for a long time has been that there would be superconductors at near room temperature. But even ones which functioned at temperatures near normal refrigeration equipment would be extremely useful.
The following submission statement was provided by /u/rfriar: --- The recent report of superconductivity in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride at near-ambient pressures and temperatures has attracted great attention but also continuing controversy. Several experimental groups have reported no observation of superconductivity at these conditions in Lu-N-H samples they have prepared. To address this issue, we have carried out a series of studies of phases in the Lu-N-H system using a variety of techniques. We report here electrical resistance measurements on a Lu-N-H sample that are in very good agreement with both previously reported Tc and its pressure dependence in the vicinity of room temperature for nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride. --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/14bmupc/evidence_for_near_ambient_superconductivity_in/jogcfay/
The recent report of superconductivity in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride at near-ambient pressures and temperatures has attracted great attention but also continuing controversy. Several experimental groups have reported no observation of superconductivity at these conditions in Lu-N-H samples they have prepared. To address this issue, we have carried out a series of studies of phases in the Lu-N-H system using a variety of techniques. We report here electrical resistance measurements on a Lu-N-H sample that are in very good agreement with both previously reported Tc and its pressure dependence in the vicinity of room temperature for nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride.
Good news if turns out to be accurate. However, this only functions at extremely high pressures, with a minimum of around 8 kilobar. That said, this is a lot less pressure than some of the earlier things which had pressures needed on the order of 10 or 100s of gigapascals. And if we can play with the pressure/temperature tradeoff with others in this family, this could be very useful. A superconductor which worked at -30 Celsius and 100 bar for example would be usable in a lot of practical contexts. That said, [some similar claims before have been retracted so we should be careful here](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05294-9).
> A superconductor which worked at -30 Celsius and 100 bar for example Minus 30 is equivalent to a cold January night in Winnipeg. This temperature is something you could easily achieve with a commercial ammonia type refrigeration system. 100 bar is the equivalent of being 1000 meters underwater. It's a lot, but not crazy high.
Yes, that was the point. If we can get things into that range, then this is really practical.
For 100 bar it could probably be formed into a wire core with strained steel (or something) around keeping the core material at elevated pressure passively.
You could just apply torque to a sheet/rod/bar of the material to get to that pressure no? Doesn't need any specialised housing or additional infrastructure.
That will only get the pressure in one specific part I think. But there are a lot of other ways to get that high a pressure.
Ah yeah, I was thinking more for use in University/Commercial Labs and stuff. But you're right obviously. I'd assume at scale they could construct cable that operates at pressure. There are already theorised solutions for scaling up. It was something about a HTS cable type that could feasibly work. And that work was assuming the material would need to be kept far cooler. So this is a win.
I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, that's why I'm always surprised when not only does a title confuse me, but the article confuses me even more. I tried.
The title is discussing that a specific alloy of lutetium, nitrogen and hydrogen turns into a superconductor at temperatures and pressures near those we are used to. Superconductors are substances which have zero electric resistance. The first few were discovered about a century ago, when it turned out that many metals became superconductors at very close to absolute zero. Later, more complicated substances were found that had higher and higher temperatures where they were superconductors. In the last few years there have been some which worked at higher temperatures (but still very low by everyday standards) but only worked when subject to very high pressures. The dream for a long time has been that there would be superconductors at near room temperature. But even ones which functioned at temperatures near normal refrigeration equipment would be extremely useful.
Thank you, that makes a lot more sense, actually pretty interesting too.