Beijing superconductor levitation video admits fraud, taken down
One of several videos claiming to show the mysterious LK-99 superconductor levitating has been revealed as a hoax, after the original poster has publicly apologized and admitted to creating the video for attention.
“Beijing Superconductor Levitation Video Admits Fraud, Taken Down,” reads the title of the article published by Live Science, an American science and technology news website owned by Ancestry.com. It reports that, “One of several videos claiming to show levitating substance revealed as a hoax” and that the “original poster of the video confesses to creating it for attention.”
The video, which is titled “Unbelievable Superconducting Levitation – Synthesized by Mr. Du” is said to be “allegedly from University of Science and Technology in Beijing.” It shows a small black substance floating and following a magnet.
Two other LK-99 levitation videos still circulate from different sources. Despite the skepticism surrounding LK-99, the scientific community faces challenges in evaluating videos shared on social media. In the past, several scientific papers claiming near-ambient superconductivity turned out to be hoaxes.
The author of the Korean paper claiming to have synthesized LK-99 still has yet to have the paper pass peer-review.
“Superconductors are impactful but materials science is complex,” LiveScience quotes materials scientist Daniel Kennedy. “To confirm a new discovery like this, scientists need to see the synthesis process, complete with the cooking time and quench rate. The original video lacked that crucial information.”
The video poster, who says they are a “young researcher” admits to making the video to gain attention, and pledges to be more cautious in the future. The video of LK-99 posted by Korean author and scientist Dr. Seungwoo Lee continues to circulate on social media, despite the scrutiny.
