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Re:LK-99: Phonon Bands, Localized Flat Band Magnetism, Model... by versteegen on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @09:34AM (#37062431)
That's exactly what I thought at first. And then I realised that the 'ferromagnetism+diamagnetism' article does not actually provide a mundane explanation of the "half levitation": They estimated that their sample had very strong diamagnetism -- at least the 2nd strongest of any known (non-SC) substance, assuming their sample was pure (but we can be certain it isn't, considering that they just had one tiny flake levitate), so quite likely the strongest. And superconductivity is a possible cause of diamagnetism.

I still think the chance it's a SC is really low, but "conclusively show that it is not superconductivity" is not quite true.

Re:LK-99: Phonon Bands, Localized Flat Band Magnetism, Model... by whimsicalism on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @10:09AM (#37062905)
There is no meissner effect, so it is not superconductive. I worked in this field, the paper as described is pretty damning. I think your reasoning is motivated.