SAN FRANCISCO - Late last month, a group of unknown South Korean researchers claimed to have found one of science's holy grails - a material capable of conducting electricity without losing any energy that was stable at room temperature. Grainy videos of a small floating rock - one of the signature signs that a material may have superconducting properties - ricocheted around the internet.
A hubbub immediately erupted in Silicon Valley, where investors, tech executives and entrepreneurs - still hyping artificial intelligence - were enthralled with the idea that the potential breakthrough could become the first revolutionary leap forward in tech in years. A so-called room-temperature superconductor could make possible sci-fi-like ideas such as levitating trains, as well as more practical ones related to perfectly efficient energy storage.