For anyone else confused, I can confirm that this post is normal physics.
An asterisk: superconductivity can be mediated by other excitations, like spin density wave excitations (as in iron-based superconductors), not just phonons. So the phonon spectrum of LK-99 is informative but not vital for superconductivity.
Bringing up the role of social media in why this blew up is definitely interesting. I’d mostly been shrugging my shoulders and saying “who knows why anything goes viral?”
I think a moral of the story for me is: when it comes to science reporting, just be aware a decent fraction is bullshit, and exercise caution.
Sorry for your acquaintance. Publishing bullshit is common, falsifying data is also regrettably something to be aware of especially when it seems like a “white lie,” but bullying your grad student in such an egregious way is not common. I guess there’s always a bad apple.
For anyone else confused, I can confirm that this post is normal physics.
An asterisk: superconductivity can be mediated by other excitations, like spin density wave excitations (as in iron-based superconductors), not just phonons. So the phonon spectrum of LK-99 is informative but not vital for superconductivity.
Bringing up the role of social media in why this blew up is definitely interesting. I’d mostly been shrugging my shoulders and saying “who knows why anything goes viral?”
I think a moral of the story for me is: when it comes to science reporting, just be aware a decent fraction is bullshit, and exercise caution.
Sorry for your acquaintance. Publishing bullshit is common, falsifying data is also regrettably something to be aware of especially when it seems like a “white lie,” but bullying your grad student in such an egregious way is not common. I guess there’s always a bad apple.