The first showed some headlines from the heady days after his discovery. The next showed the press expressing concern over problems that had cropped up. They fully appreciate how the trip from penthouse to doghouse can be amazingly quick out on the edge of science. The correct answer to the question was no, of course. Nature had not delivered a death sentence, only a few years of hard time.
Unpredictability is the beauty of science.
The only thing predictable about superconductivity is that Chu will pursue it. He is the truest of true believers. Again and again, he says there is no inherent reason there cannot be more and better superconductors, including one that works at room temperature. On the rare occasion when he allows himself a daydream, he may even imagine stumbling across the right formula to make it. At the very least, he cannot foreclose on the possibility.