Latest room-temperature claims met with heaps of skepticism

Just when you thought the hype about room-temperature superconductors was over, it’s not.

A Swiss quantum algorithm startup, Terra Quantum, and a research lab at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil claim that they have discovered a form of graphite that superconducts at ambient temperature and pressure.

Terra Quantum isn’t a small operation. The company raised $60 million early in 2022 for its quantum-as-a-service platform. But that doesn’t mean you should get your hopes up.

Room-temperature superconductors, if one is ever found and independently confirmed, could revolutionize everything from electricity transmission to computing, electric vehicles, MRI machines, maglev trains and more.

Lately, claims of room-temperature superconductivity seem to be blooming like flowers after a rainstorm. In the last year alone, three high-profile cases were either debunked, retracted or seriously doubted.

Consider this latest one to fall into the latter category. Researchers who TechCrunch+ spoke with were skeptical that this new material is a room-temperature superconductor.