What’s an Ambient Superconductor and Why the Buzz About LK-99?

Superconductivity is having a moment. The concept of developing techniques for transporting electricity with no resistance is tantalizing because it has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry, reducing waste, lowering bills and helping to curb global warming. But superconductivity has so far only been achieved at extreme temperatures — like -269C (-452F) — or pressure, limiting its use to a handful of expensive applications like hospital MRI scanners. That’s why claims this year about a breakthrough in finding the first room-temperature superconductor technology grabbed the world’s attention and sparked surges in certain Korean and Chinese stocks. Some scientists expressed serious doubts about the LK-99 superconductor but, because of its potential to transform life as we know it, the concept has become an obsession with everyone from respected researchers to Twitch streamers and TikTok celebrities.

The temperamental properties of electricity have mesmerized the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Nicola Tesla. Under normal circumstances, electricity is difficult to send from one place to another because electrons bump into each other, creating heat and reducing power. Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with almost zero resistance — under certain conditions. Currently they are known to exhibit such properties only under extreme cooling or extreme pressure. In 1911, Mercury became the first material discovered to have this property. Since then, metallic alloys, ceramics and other materials have been found to conduct electricity with almost zero resistance, but only when supercooled.