LK-99: Mounting evidence suggests material is not a superconductor

Just weeks after researchers claimed that a material called LK-99 is the world’s first room-temperature, ambient-pressure superconductor evidence to the contrary has started to pile up. Superconductors conduct electricity perfectly, but studies on LK-99 performed at impressive speed from multiple laboratories dispute that the material has this property.

The search for superconductors has long captured a lot of attention and interest. Because electricity can pass through them without losing energy, they could greatly improve the efficiency of the power grid, lead to new …