US team withdraws superconductor study after Chinese researchers contest findings

beijingwalker · Nov 19, 2023

US team withdraws superconductor study after Chinese researchers contest findings

TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Nov 19, 2023, 19:53 IST

A scientific journal has retracted a paper claiming the creation of a room-temperature superconducting material. Chinese scientists doubted the validity of the study, leading to the retraction.

The paper gained attention earlier this year, raising questions about the initial claims and scientific rigor.

Most of the researchers are from the University of Rochester. The crucial data in the study was manipulated, indicating that the observed superconductivity was an experimental artifact.

The inability to replicate the results played a crucial role in raising doubts about the findings.

Scientific journal Nature has retracted a contentious paper that asserted the creation of a room-temperature superconducting material. Chinese scientists, taking the initiative to replicate the study, have cast significant doubt on its validity, reported the South China Morning Post.

The paper gained widespread attention earlier this year, capturing headlines in mainstream media and social platforms.

Published in one of the most venerable scientific journals, the retraction now raises questions about the initial claims and the scientific rigour behind them.

Eight of the paper’s 11 authors, in a retraction notice on November 7, requested to withdraw the research as it “does not accurately reflect the provenance of the investigated materials, the experimental measurements undertaken and the data-processing protocols applied”.

Most of the researchers are from the University of Rochester in New York.

According to Dirk van der Marel, an honorary professor at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, the crucial data in the study had been manipulated, leading to the conclusion that the observed superconductivity was an experimental artefact.

“It means that there were serious problems with this paper, and that the material is not a room-temperature superconductor
,” physicist Jorge Hirsch from the University of California, San Diego told the news outlet.
“These co-authors did the right thing, which takes courage,” he added.

Although the inability to replicate the results alone was insufficient to discredit the claim made by the US team, these unsuccessful replication efforts played a crucial role in raising doubts about the reported findings, Hirsch and van der Marel told the Post.

“Several groups in China played a leading role in this,” Hirsch said.

“It provided encouragement to the co-authors of the paper to report the anomalies they knew about,” he added.

Nature earlier told the Post that "they viewed the replication attempts as an extremely important part of the scientific process".

“An inherent principle of publication is that others should be able to replicate and build upon the authors’ published claims,” a representative said.

Since the initial discovery of superconductivity in 1911, scientists have been actively exploring diverse materials capable of conducting electricity with zero resistance. The potential impact of such materials is significant, promising revolutionary enhancements in the efficiency of power grids, computer chips, medical imaging, and high-speed trains.

Up to now, superconductors have demonstrated functionality only under extreme conditions—either at very low temperatures, approaching absolute zero, or under extremely high pressures exceeding one million Earth atmospheres.

Room-temperature superconductors are considered the coveted goal in scientific advancements, holding the key to unlocking practical applications.

In a groundbreaking paper published by Nature in March, the team from the University of Rochester, led by Ranga Dias, astonished the global scientific community by revealing their success in creating a compound using hydrogen, lutetium, and nitrogen.

The compound exhibited superconducting properties at around 21 degrees Celsius (approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit).