David Friedberg of the All-in-Podcast is hopeful that LK99 is real and can lead to industrial scale commercial room temperature superconductors. Friedberg estimates that 70% of the energy we produce is lost to heat and friction.
However, computer chips and networking without heat problems can mean computers that are 100 to 200 times faster.
The first hurdle is confirming that this is indeed superconducting and not just diamagnetism.
If the theoretical papers are correct then the reliability and mass production problem is mastering a process for the replacement of every 8th lead atom with copper or gold or some other correct dopant.
Motors, engines, electronics, computers, and space propulsion would be reinvented. Quantum computers, nuclear fusion and other things on the edge of the possible could become mainstream.
At scale this would enable global transformation and abundance.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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To push it into sci-fi territory, it would be crazy (and this shows my ignorance of how it works, I’m sure) to see body armor that could repel bullets, or vehicle armor that could use it to repel larger projectiles. But, guess that would mean the projectiles would also have to be ferromagnetic.
Fun experiment waiting to happen, perhaps.
A strong enough magnetic field would momentarily repel any really fast moving highly conductive projectile.
But be perfectly useless against insulating projectiles, and the same field would attract everything ferromagnetic in its vicinity, so you could defeat it with a dumpster full of scrap iron. So, not terribly practical. (For other reasons, too.)
I’m dubious. Even if this is successful how long before we can see commercial/industrial applications? I’m still waiting for mass produced carbon nanotubes. How long since it was discovered?
Yes a reasonable point after proof it works you still need to build to gigantic scale the material, then use it in real factories not easy from where we are (may be)