Inside the DIY Race to Replicate LK-99

That's a reasonably skeptical take on the story so far.

I've heard it said that the Fleischmann-Pons debacle in 1989 was detrimental to the entire field of fusion research during the 90's because of the effect it had on public perception. Hopefully the same thing doesn't happen to superconductors if LK-99 turns out to be another highly-publicized dead end (especially after there was already a falsified superconductor paper earlier this year).

As far as we know, room-temperature superconductors are within the realm of possibility (and far more likely than cold fusion), so if LK-99 is a bust we shouldn't let cynicism kill any hope of finding the real deal.

From the article:

“There are more likely explanations for the levitation, explains Richard Greene, a condensed matter physicist at the University of Maryland, including magnetic properties in the compound in its normal, non-superconducting state. The betting markets probably had it right: Odds are the new era is not yet upon us.”