Controversy Surrounds Blockbuster Superconductivity Claim

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March 16, 2023

This week, we’re thinking about uncertainty. What do we really know, and how do we prove it? Our top story dives in to a “big if true” provocative claim—a potentially revolutionary breakthrough in high-temperature superconductivity that is nevertheless receiving a chilly reception from some skeptical experts. We also have stories on the murky matter of the true size of protons, the art and science of deflecting Earth-threatening asteroids, how the mathematical constant pi could be music to one’s ears, and much more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics

Materials Science Controversy Surrounds Blockbuster Superconductivity Claim Will a possible breakthrough for room-temperature superconducting materials hold up to scrutiny? By Sophie Bushwick

Particle Physics How Big Is a Proton? Neutrinos Weigh In A first-of-its-kind probe brings physicists one step closer to solving the proton radius puzzle By Anashe Bandari

Astronomy How To Stop a (Potentially Killer) Asteroid We slammed a $330-million spaceship the size of a dairy cow into an asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Here’s what we’re learning about how our first step in planetary defense could save us in the future. By Lee Billings,Tulika Bose | 07:53

Sponsor Content Provided by Battelle Climate Resilience: Impactful Innovation is Needed Today What’s most needed right now are outcome-driven, scientific approaches committed to delivering breakthrough technologies and capabilities—ones that leverage the fundamental knowledge of the past and apply it in new mission-driven methods that reach beyond what is possible today.

Quantum Physics Quantum Light Could Probe Chemical Reactions in Real Time Quantum bursts of light could help examine minute chemical reactions and reveal the quantum properties of mysterious materials By Dina Genkina

Quantum Physics Quantum Physics Falls Apart without Imaginary Numbers Imaginary numbers—the square roots of negative numbers—are an inescapable part of quantum theory, a study shows By Marc-Olivier Renou,Antonio Acín,Miguel Navascués

Mathematics If the Mathematical Constant Pi Was a Song, What Would It Sound Like? Every year on Pi Day, we have a reason to celebrate one of math’s most famous symbols. But this year we speak to someone who has captured it in song. By Jeffery DelViscio | 09:43

Arts Poem: 'Extravehicular Activity' Science in meter and verse By Howard V. Hendrix

Extraterrestrial Life 'Unstable' Moons May Be Obliterating Alien Life across the Universe Collisions between moons and planets may be a regular danger for possible extraterrestrial life By Briley Lewis,LiveScience

Astronomy How Magnetic Fields Control Galactic Growth Our galaxy’s enormous scaffolding is shaped by complex magnetic fields By Rachel Berkowitz

Artificial Intelligence What the New GPT-4 AI Can Do OpenAI just released an updated version of its text-generating artificial intelligence program. Here’s how GPT-4 improves on its predecessor By Sophie Bushwick

Artificial Intelligence AI's Victories in Go Inspire Better Human Game Playing Famed AI wins in Go let human players rethink their moves in a whole new way By Emily Willingham

Energy Quantum Computing Is the Future, and Schools Need to Catch Up Top universities are finally bringing the excitement of the quantum future into the classroom By Olivia Lanes

Particle Physics Strange Material Breaks a Classic Rule of Physics An unusual semiconductor is making physicists rethink the science of extreme conditions By Rachel Nuwer

QUOTE OF THE DAY "If you were to find a room-temperature, room-pressure superconductor, you'd have a completely new host of technologies that would occur--that we haven't even begun to dream about. This could be a real game changer if it turns out to be correct." Eva Zurek, a computational chemist at the University at Buffalo, on controversial claims of a superconductivity breakthrough

FROM THE ARCHIVE New Clues in the Hunt for a Room-Temperature Superconductor Could new theoretical and computational advances finally deliver the elusive room-temperature superconductor? By Bob Henderson | October 2019

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