MIT scientists have identified a bizarre new material: a superconductor that also acts like a magnet. Using a special stacking of graphene layers from graphite, they observed this dual behavior — something thought to be impossible until now.
For over a century, scientists believed that magnets and superconductors were fundamentally incompatible, like mixing oil with water. But a groundbreaking discovery from MIT physicists is now turning that idea on its head.
In a recent study published in Nature, the research team revealed something remarkable: a new material called a chiral superconductor. It carries electricity with zero resistance, and it’s magnetic. This strange combination has never been observed in such a direct way before.
Even more surprising? The researchers found this exotic behavior in a very familiar substance: graphite, the same material used in pencil lead.
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