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by yonkshi 2791 days ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the significance of this finding is not so much about temperature, rather it's a big piece of the puzzle in understanding superconductivity. This is the first time that we are able to achieve superconductivity via mechanical property rather than molecular property. Our current superconductors are based some crazy alloys, and we have little insight of why they are superconductive.

In this finding they were able to make graphene superconductive by simply shifting two sheets of graphene by 1.1 degree angle. Graphene consists of only carbon atoms, its atomic properties are much easier to model than an alloy, so by examining why this magical angle work, it can greatly help us understand why superconductivity occur, eventually helping us design higher temperature superconductors.

1 comments

Correct. It's a significant finding. I'm annoyed at the breathless explanations of our current superconductor situation as a lead in followed by this revelation that this new superconductor isn't really useful as a high-temperature superconductor at all.

I.e. I'm annoyed by the writing not unimpressed with the science :-)