[scarmig]

There is a combinatorial number of different materials out there. They chose a particular small subset of them that they predicted might have some interesting properties and, over two decades, discovered one that may have those properties.

Most hypotheses are wrong, and even if they turn out right it may well be a case of being right for the wrong reasons. Regardless, this is top tier research: unglamorous, uninstagramable drudgery guided by intellect. Sure, there's luck involved, but research always involves luck.