Space & Physics
Superconducting Saga: What happened to LK-99?
The community of condensed matter physicists was put under spotlight in the wake of a paper, triggering a frenzy like none other in recent times.
In July 2023, two South Korean experimental physicists, Lee Sukbae and Kim Ji-Hoon published a pre-print in arXiv, claiming discovery of superconductivity in a sample, occurring at room temperature.
The condensed matter physics community was put under spotlight in the wake of this paper, triggering a frenzy like none other in recent times.
The material dubbed, LK-99, after the initials of the South Korean physicists, promised nothing short of a revolution to the electronics industry.
But before I go further, let’s go through some superconductivity basics.
What are superconductors?
Basically, superconductivity is a macroscopic quantum phenomenon. Our story begins with two ground-breaking experiments.
In 1911, the Dutch physicist, Heike Onnes observed that a mercury wire dipped in liquid helium, offered zero resistance to the passage of electricity, when the temperature of the mercury was lowered to-269◦ C.
In 1937, Pyotr Kapitsa, John F. Allen and Don Misener discovered that at an even lower temperature close to -273◦ C, liquid helium-4 transformed into a superfluid. A superfluid’s an exotic fluid exhibiting zero viscosity.
Both these exotic phenomena of superfluidity and superconductivity are closely linked, though they’re not the same.
However, this effect would go for years without a solid theory, until the physicists’ trio, John Bardeen, Leon Cooper and John Schrieffer, put together a ‘complete’ microscopic theory, known as the ‘BCS theory’. The theory makes a number of quantitative predictions about the behavior of superconductors. Most importantly, it shows how pairs of electrons would couple to form Cooper pairs, overcoming mutual repulsion below a set critical temperature. Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer would go on to win the 1972’s Nobel Prize in Physics for this work.
As much as superconductors revolutionized the electronics industry in the 20th century, the temperatures at which this effect is commonly seen is in the same regime as outer space. It takes resources for laboratories to reach these temperatures. But imagine if nature showed us a material that can become a superconductor at room temperature …
The case for ‘room temperature’ superconductors
But you may be wondering what’s the big deal with room temperature superconductors anyway? For one, they’re promising an overnight revolution of sorts in the electronics industry. The approximately 7% loss of energy there is to pass currents through wires during transportation, can be brought down to near zero with room temperature superconductors. Another important use of these superconductors would be in the development of strong magnetic fields. Strong stable magnetic fields are used in MRI imaging and maglev trains.
Source: Ramon Salinero / Unsplash
This could make such technologies more accessible and cheaper to the public. Renewable energy generation from solar and wind power could see their efficiency rise with the help of room-temperature superconductors. The use of room-temperature superconductors could grow exponentially more after its discovery, even in applications we do not know yet. Think of the world today without any semiconductors, it would be tough to live without our LED lamps or solar panels. Similarly, room temperature superconductors could inexorably revolutionize our way of living for the better. I mean, who knows? Nobody knows! It’s yet to be invented.
Sukbae and Kim claimed that LK-99 displayed superconductivity when the temperature dropped below 127◦ C. They claimed to have observed zero resistance currents.
And that was all it took for social media savvy tech entrepreneurs to embark on a hype train, and spread the word on room temperature superconductors potentially being real at last. Except it’s not technically room temperature – for 127◦ C is way past the boiling point of water. But it’s much easier for laboratories to set up an experiment, investigate and replicate 127◦ C.
The dream fever isn’t abating away, but the proof really is in the pudding.
There’s nothing to say room temperature superconductors can’t exist. In fact, scientists who worked in producing these results have also shared this opinion in their work.
Conventional superconductivity – with extreme cold critical temperatures – was challenged back in 1986, when certain cuprate compounds such as yttirium barium copper oxide (or YBCO) were discovered. They have a higher critical temperature of -183◦ C, which is still very cold, but still warmer compared to helium-4. Such critical temperatures are outside the realm of the standard BCS theory, with the main mechanisms underpinning them being a topic of research.
The race for verification
After their paper was submitted in arXiv, Sukbae and Kim released a video of the levitating LK-99 sample on a magnet – a hallmark signature of the Meissner effect. The Meissner effect is a prediction of the standard BCS theory – when magnetic field lines are ousted from within the material itself.
They provided a detailed description of how LK-99 can be synthesised. This led materials labs from across the world to descend into a frenzy to try and replicate their results.
Some of the earliest research were done at the National Physics Laboratory (NPL) in New Delhi and Beihang University in Beijing (BU).
A team from the Southeast University in Nanjing, observed a near-zero resistance in LK-99 at -163 ◦ C. The team from Nanjing used an X-ray diffraction technique consistent with the work that the Korean scientists had published.
And then the theorists entered the fray. Sinead Griffin from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, US, performed calculations to suggest there really were telltale signs of room temperature super conductance in LK-99. Specifically, possible mechanisms for forming Cooper pairs were identified.
While these results were tantalising, they did not give conclusive evidence of superconductivity.
The Meissner effect – or what the South Koreans claimed was the Meissner effect- couldn’t be replicated in any other studies.
Griffin attained social media popularity after her tweets with over 14K followers on X. However, truth be told – Griffith wasn’t explicitly backing anybody – but was merely giving the South Koreans’ work a fair shot.
The last twist in the saga came when she said, “My paper did *not* prove nor give evidence of superconductivity”.
Realization dawns
And suddenly, it wasn’t going in LK-99’s favour at all. It turned out the research team at Southeast University in Nanjing, had made incorrect measurements using faulty instrumentation, meaning they were unreliable.
Whereas, the studies from India’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Beihang University didn’t find report any superconductivity effect. In fact, it just seemed like dull, grey metal.
But the final series of nails in the coffin were the conclusive results by Yuan Li at Peking Institute, and Yi Jiang at the Donostia International Physics Centre, Spain. They proved beyond doubt that LK-99, as synthesised by the South Korean team, was a ferromagnet. Yuan Li also explained the levitating video of LK-99 pellets over a magnet was a result of ferromagnetism. He also showed the absence of superconducting current at low temperatures.
A ferrofluid exhibiting ferromagnetic properties; Source: Etienne Desclides / Unsplash
Science is often rife with controversies and debatable results. Many physicists have published unconfirmed, and published plagiarized work. Some notable examples include the alleged groundbreaking work of Jan Schön, who claimed discovery of organic transistors. Only to be charged with fraud after he made up his results, thus bringing him disrepute that brought an end to his scientific career pretty early on.
Then there was the work by Anshu Pandey and Dev Thapa on similar claims of room temperature superconductors that weren’t replicated.
Although it’s unfortunate that this saga ended so disappointingly with LK-99, I am not, in any manner suggestive of the fact that room-temperature superconductivity cannot exist.
Scientists who worked in producing these results have also shared this opinion in their work. Many scientists have however also shared the need to understand the results and related nitty gritty, before jumping the gun.
However, the collaboration amongst scientists at universities across the world, was focused on uncovering LK-99’s true properties.
It wasn’t just mere claims, backed by data, but also the peer-review process that helped redefine public discourse, and set the facts straight. And that had made all the difference.
Space & Physics
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Space & Physics
A Dead Star Feeds Off Planet Formed From Its Ashes
It adds to a known coterie of planets now found orbiting dead stars, astronomers are busy studying to spot signs of life.
A planet orbiting once every 4 days around a white dwarf star HS 0209+0832 – about 270 light years in the direction of the constellation Pisces – is steadily losing its atmosphere to its host star. While many stars in solar systems beyond our own often feed on their planets, this particular star feeds on its own ashes.
The gaseous planet HS 0209+0832 b was discovered in 2024, when the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, a NASA space telescope, found it orbiting the white dwarf star over the course of four days. The new study followed through with detailed observations from TESS data, NASA’s space-based Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, in addition to the ESO’s mountain-based Very Large Telescope, to study the star’s atmosphere and in turn inferring some chemistry occurring in the planet.
In a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday and funded by NASA, European Research Council, Fundación Occident and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, an international team of astronomers have reported imprints of niobium, a heavy element, in the atmosphere of a white dwarf star.
Astronomers predict the transiting young planet around the dead star is supplying that niobium back to its host. The sighting is evidence of a “second generation” planet, one of many candidates identified over several years, manifesting in a myriad different ways from spent gas ejected in the wake of stellar deaths.
It adds to a known coterie of planets now found orbiting dead stars, astronomers are busy studying to spot signs of life.
What are white dwarf stars?
White dwarves are an exotic stars, and are all that’s left off giant stars shedding their large gaseous skin in violent deaths. Our sun is destined one day to transform into a white dwarf, but only after swelling in size some five billion years from now to become a red giant when it will eclipse past the earth’s orbit. It would take several million years after that for the red giant sun to shed its gaseous exterior to become a white dwarf.
Planets if any, found orbiting these dead stars may have likely migrated from the new solar system’s outer reaches. All that’s left off the progenitor star’s past are imprints of light metals and other elements on the white dwarf’s atmosphere. Such planets have previously been spotted orbiting pulsars, a kind of neutron star, back in 1992. In fact, its discovery had marked the first ever detection of any planet orbiting a star beyond our sun.
In five billion years, our sun will evolve to become a red giant star. Credit: Svitlana Leonidivna Malchenko
Sighting niobium
Elements such as niobium don’t typically form in the core of stars like our sun. Chemical production usually limits to elements lighter than or until iron, with its 26 protons and 30 neutrons. Beyond that, slamming an extra proton or neutron will cause those to split, leaving iron to be the last element to be directly forged.
Niobium, with 41 protons and 52 neutrons, is thought to be born after absorbing slow passing neutrons when the red giant star dies to form a white dwarf star. This niobium hitches a ride along with rest of the contents of the red giant star, farther into the outer reaches of the system after the formation of the white dwarf.
These contents could create a new disc of circumstellar material with dust and gas that could condense one day to form new planets. The “second generation” planet found orbiting the white dwarf star from the new study, could have been born this way.
Alternatively, it may have been a planet in the outskirts like Neptune, migrating inwards, and enriching itself with niobium-rich star material.
Either way, the planet got too close to its host star, which is irradiating its newfound niobium-rich atmosphere, stripping it away and devouring it.
While it’s likely not a candidate planet for life as we know it to be found, it’s discovery can help ascertain how such worlds are formed in the aftermath of a star’s various phases of evolution.
Space & Physics
Artemis Accords Reach 76 Countries: What It Means for India
The Artemis Accords now have 76 signatories. With NASA inviting ISRO to its Moon Base programme, India’s role in lunar exploration is expanding.
The Artemis Accords now have 76 signatories, expanding the international framework around the next phase of lunar exploration. For India, the milestone comes weeks after NASA invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to participate in its planned Moon Base programme.
Albania, Croatia, Côte d’Ivoire and San Marino joined the Accords in September, taking participation to 76 countries. NASA says nearly 40% of the world’s nations are now part of the framework, which sets principles for peaceful, transparent and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.
India became the 27th signatory in June 2023. At the India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting in Bengaluru in August, NASA invited ISRO to participate in its Moon Base programme. The two countries also agreed to advance discussions on open scientific-data sharing under the Accords.
India’s Moon Base opportunity
The invitation does not specify what India will contribute. NASA has said every Artemis Accords signatory can participate through scientific payloads, technology demonstrations, CubeSats and other capabilities. Any specific Indian contribution would require further agreements.
India, however, is developing its own increasingly ambitious lunar programme. ISRO’s Chandrayaan-4 is planned as a lunar sample-return mission, designed to collect samples from the Moon’s polar region and bring them back to Earth. Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX, being developed with Japan’s JAXA, will study lunar polar volatiles in situ.
These missions could give India experience and scientific capabilities relevant to a future international lunar infrastructure.
ISRO Shaping the Data Conversation
Scientific data could be another area of Indian participation. In May 2026, ISRO led an initial Artemis Accords discussion on advancing open-data practices. NASA subsequently held two workshops focused on making lunar scientific data more accessible, interoperable and reproducible across countries.
That is significant as more lunar missions target the same regions. Shared standards could allow researchers to combine observations from different spacecraft instead of treating each mission’s data separately.
Moon – Space Coperation
India-US space cooperation is also expanding into human spaceflight. ISRO’s 2025–26 annual report records that Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla travelled to the International Space Station in June 2025 as part of the Axiom-4 mission and conducted seven microgravity experiments. ISRO also held discussions with NASA on potential cooperation related to Gaganyaan.
The Artemis relationship therefore sits alongside an existing programme of India-US cooperation, including the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.
What Changes for India?
The significance of the 76-country milestone lies in the network developing around it. The Artemis Accords cover scientific-data sharing, interoperability, non-interference between missions, emergency assistance and protection of historically significant lunar sites. NASA says signatories are now working through technical meetings and workshops to put these principles into practice.
For India, that creates several possible avenues: contributing technology or science to NASA’s Moon Base effort, sharing lunar data, and working with a growing group of countries on standards for increasingly crowded lunar operations. What India’s specific contribution to the Moon Base remains undecided. But with Chandrayaan-4, LUPEX and its human-spaceflight programme advancing alongside deeper NASA cooperation, India is entering the next phase of lunar exploration with its own capabilities already taking shape.
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