Magic formula Danijel Djurek, a physicist at A. Volta Applied Ceramics in Zagreb, Croatia, claims that he discovered his superconducting ceramic mixture in the late 1980s. But he was unable to pin down the structure and formula of the material, and his research was interrupted by years of war, following Croatia's split from Yugoslavia. Now Djurek and his team say they have finally hit on a formula that works reliably and reproducibly at room temperature. Some telltale signs of superconductivity are easy to spot. For example, a graph of resistance plotted against temperature shows a characteristic drop at the temperature at which the material becomes superconducting.
Physicists usually require other evidence too, such as the ability to expel all magnetic fields.
Djurek's material seems to do this too. Archie Campbell, director of Cambridge University's Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Superconductivity, says the data clearly shows the hallmark of a superconductor. This is not a small effect. Nevertheless, all the researchers contacted by New Scientist were extremely reluctant to start popping corks. Do it again The biggest question mark hangs over the failure of other groups to replicate the results.