A stunning claim of a room-temperature superconductor that grabbed headlines has fizzled. The paper was retracted November 7 from the journal Nature, making for a trio of high-profile retractions for physicist Ranga Dias of the University of Rochester.
“It was about time,” says theoretical physicist Lilia Boeri of the Sapienza University of Rome.
In March, Dias and colleagues reported in Nature that a compound of lutetium, hydrogen and nitrogen was a superconductor at room temperature (SN: 3/7/23). The practical use of most superconductors is limited by the need to cool them to low temperatures, or squeeze them to extremely high pressures. Dias’ claimed material required neither of these conditions, a feat that could have revolutionary implications for electronics if correct.
Eight of the paper’s 11 coauthors requested the retraction, stating that “the published paper does not accurately reflect the provenance of the investigated materials, the experimental measurements undertaken and the data-processing protocols applied.”
2023-11-07 17:06:26
Article from www.sciencenews.org
