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Physics

'Red matter' superconductor may not be a wonder material after all

A material called red matter, after the colour change it undergoes when subjected to pressure, was hailed as a potential room temperature superconductor, but now other researchers are finding they can't replicate the results

By Alex Wilkins

17 March 2023

Red matter superconductor

Attempts to recreate red matter under various pressures failed to replicate the material’s changing colour

Nanjing University

Red matter, a material that researchers last week claimed showed evidence of being a room-temperature superconductor with the promise of revolutionising electronics, might not be so super after all, after another group has struggled to replicate the results.

Last week, Ranga Dias at the University of Rochester in New York and his colleagues said they had created a superconducting material – one that allows electricity to flow with zero resistance – that they called red…

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