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We were optimistic back in the day
(media.kbin.social)
Photo of hover board from Back to the Future
Bottom text:
SCIENTISTS
you have 3 years.
Room temp superconductors were recently in the news, although I don't think they've made wire out of the material yet.
But quantum locking would keep the board on rails, and would not allow the rider to deviate from the path. Still cool, but not a hoverboard.
We also have hoverboards, but they are large, use thrust engines or propellers, and are horribly inefficient.
ftfy. This is one of the "holy grails" in science, and there have been many claims to have achieved it that all turned out to be false under further investigation. Definitely take the most recent claims with a really big grain of salt, pending independent verification by other labs. Remember: if it can't be independent reproduced, it isn't meaningful.
Full disclosure, I didn't read the article on the superconductors. I assumed it was another one of those "Oh, neat" scientific discoveries that wasn't as exciting as journalists want it to be. I'd love to see it when it's real, though.
If confirmed, it would be much more than an "oh, neat" kind of discovery. Unlike many things which are very much a scientific pursuit – still worth researching, but having few, if any, applications outside of the pursuit of knowledge – a room temperature, ambient pressure superconductor has immense practical benefits. A true room temperature, ambient pressure superconductor would stand to revolutionize many things, and whoever discovers it will almost definitely get a well-deserved Nobel prize for their effort.