Recent claims that a material called LK-99 conducts electricity perfectly at room temperature and pressure have kicked off an incredible flurry of experimental activity. There are several ways to test if something is such a superconductor, however the flurry has yet to find much scientific consensus. Creating pure samples of LK-99 in the lab and determining their quality is also proving difficult.
Unlike conventional conductors such as metal wires, superconductors allow electricity to pass through them without…