Today in Science: Controversial superconductivity claims

Daily science inspiration July 28, 2023: Controversial superconductivity claims, a look inside a fly's brain and power outages are increasing. Enjoy and happy Friday! —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TOP STORIES Fly Brain Map Researchers have successfully compiled photographs of more than 74,000 fruit fly brains–detailed down to the individual neuron–from flies in more than 5,000 genetically modified lineages, creating an unprecedented map of the creatures' brains. Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute developed a gene labeling system to label activated neurons.  Why this matters: Fruit flies have 200,000 neurons (compared with a human's 86 billion to 120 billion), but despite this variance, fruit flies are invaluable to neuroscientists studying information processing and task management. The more detailed a brain connection map (called a connectome), the better it helps scientists understand how nervous systems work.  What the experts say: The brain is a giant neural circuit, and if you want to know how the brain works, "you have to know the map of the circuit," says Geoffrey Meissner, from HHMI and the lead author of the new mapping study.  Credit: Geoffrey Meissner/FlyLight Controversial Claims Two papers published this week on the preprint server arXiv.org (an open-access forum where many physics papers are posted before they are peer-reviewed) are sparking controversy. The researchers, from South Korea, claim that they have discovered a room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor, a compound called LK-99 that can conduct electricity perfectly under everyday conditions. A genuine ambient-condition superconductor could transform many technologies–enabling a perfectly efficient power grid, levitating trains and commercially viable fusion reactors. Why this matters: The new findings have yet to be scrutinized by the scientific community, and skepticism is running high; Ranga Dias, a physicist at the University of Rochester, recently made multiple claims about room-temperature superconductors, but several of his papers have been retracted amid allegations that he fabricated data. What the experts say: James Hamlin, a physicist at the University of Florida, spoke to Scientific American about these papers and pointed out oddities in a measurement of LK-99's magnetic properties that gave him pause. "It doesn't really look much like my experience of measuring" these properties, he says. Doug Natelson, a physicist at Rice University, noticed inconsistencies in a data plot printed in both papers.  GRAPHIC OF THE DAY Credit: June Kim Outages Going Up Government data show that blackouts are worsening in number and duration, and a new study shows they disproportionately affect already vulnerable communities. Researchers found that Louisiana, Arkansas, central Alabama and Northern Michigan were among the most vulnerable areas. The above plot shows that the frequency of medically significant outages, defined as those lasting eight hours or more, is higher in the summer. These outages typically peak around 6 P.M., which coincides with the time of the highest electricity use.  TODAY'S NEWS • As AI-generated content fills the Internet, it's corrupting the training data that would teach future AI models. | 6 min read • Women in the U.S., India and Nigeria are disproportionately burdened physically and financially by extreme heat, according to a new study. Those impacts are expected to increase as climate change accelerates. | 4 min read • Rip currents are dangerous to swimmers, but they're vital for distributing marine life in the ocean. | 5 min read • Nobuo Kawakami, founder of the Japanese media company DWANGO, has offered up to $1 million in prize money to the first person to write a paper that shows an inherent flaw in the "abc conjecture" theory. | 5 min read More News EXPERT PERSPECTIVES • We need to collect more robust data on specific populations of LGBTQ young people to better understand the unique mental health risks they face, writes Myeshia Price, director of research science at the Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ young people. | 5 min read More Opinion ICYMI (Our most-read stories of the week) • Forests Are Losing Their Ability to Hold Carbon. | 2 min read • Why Do Cats Land on Their Feet? Physics Explains. | 9 min read • "Man in the Moon" Older Than Scientists Thought. | 3 min read Another week in the books. I'll be keeping cool this weekend by visiting the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History here in New York City, and watching the space show (for the second time!), which is about exoplanets. A journey off this planet is just what the doctor ordered (and it's soothingly narrated by actor Lupita Nyong'o). If you ever visit the museum, I highly recommend it!   Let me know how you're keeping cool, or if you're lucky to have pleasant weather where you live. Email me at: newsletters@sciam.com. See you Monday! —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters here. Scientific American One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10004   Support our mission, subscribe to Scientific American here   Unsubscribe Email Preferences