I want this to be the most important breakthrough for computing, fusion, and batteries… but my hopes may have already been dashed

pcgamer.com:

«For the first time in the world, we succeeded in synthesizing the room-temperature superconductor.» 

That's the opening line of a paper submitted by researchers at the Quantum Energy Research Centre, Inc. and Korea University—a paper which could become a seriously big deal, if the findings are ratified. Thing is, the scientific community isn't so sure they will be.

Superconductors are absolutely key to devices such as quantum computers. They're used to form the fundamental qubit, which requires immeasurably tight operating conditions in order to produce accurate results. The issue is that we don't know of any materials that act as superconductors that don't also require extremely cool, sub-space temperatures to do so. Therein lies one problem with superconductors and their wider use today.

But superconductors have many properties that are extremely important. They're absolutely energy efficient, in theory, requiring no cooling for electrical conductivity. In this popular Tweet (X, sorry) thread from Alex Kaplan, a frozen coffee connoisseur and Princeton Physics graduate, he explains how a valid room temperature superconductor could enable lossless energy transfer, enable new nuclear fusion concepts, create incredible batteries, make entirely efficient computer chips, and even make MRI machines and MagLev trains cheaper and easier.

You can see then why a material that operates as a superconductor at room temperatures, or thereabouts, is perhaps a little exciting.

The paper lays out a superconductor called LK-99. It's easy to produce, likely mass manufacturable, and works at both ambient temperature and pressure.

But there's a catch. I've trawled through the reaction to the announcement from the scientific community and