South Korean experts seek to verify room-temperature superconductor claim

SEOUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) – South Korean experts said on Thursday they would set up a committee to verify claims that a room-temperature superconductor has been discovered, sparking investor frenzy and skepticism from their peers ever since.

The Korean Society for Superconductivity and Cryogenics, a think tank, said in a statement on Thursday that it had asked the Quantum Energy Research Center to send samples to verify its researchers’ findings of a superconducting material at room temperature, the report said on Tuesday. last month. a website that showcases research prior to formal publication.

“There has been much controversy about the authenticity of the results reported at home and abroad, and other claims are being added without being peer reviewed,” the group said.

“Based on the data from the two archived documents and the video made public, the materials…cannot be called superconducting at room temperature at this time,” he added.

Superconductors, substances without electrical resistance, are considered valuable as they can allow electrical currents to pass without losing energy.

But the handful of materials discovered so far only exhibit superconductivity at extremely cold temperatures or high pressures, making them impractical for widespread use.

The group said organizations including Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University and Pohang University of Science and Technology would verify the findings if the Quantum Energy Research Center provides any samples, while member organizations are conducting their own. verification investigation.

The researchers who made the claim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stocks in the US, China and South Korea have gained since the claim of a practical superconductor became public, as investors placed early bets despite skepticism among some scientists.

The global frenzy was further stoked after a Chinese university posted a video replicating the experiment.

An index tracking shares related to Chinese superconductors has risen since late July, when South Korean researchers published their papers, rising as much as 22%, though it gave back a large chunk of those gains on Thursday.

Among these stocks were Jiangsu Etern Co. (600105.SS) and Western superconducting technologies (688122.SS) which closed down 9.7% and 8.13% respectively on Thursday.

(This story has been corrected to read “extremely cold temperatures or high pressures,” not “high temperatures,” in paragraph 6)

Reporting by Joyce Lee and Brenda Goh Editing by Mark Potter

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