I have been fascinated by superconductors since college labs, when we played with magnets in liquid nitrogen and watched physics feel almost magical.
The recent momentum in room-temperature superconductor research is hard to ignore. We saw two meaningful results within months. That does not mean commercialization is around the corner, but it does mean the field is moving faster than many people expected.
In September 2020, researchers reported a new superconductivity mechanism in SrRuO4, often described as “g-wave.” Coverage: phys.org
The other major result came from Nature: carbonaceous sulfur hydride reached superconducting behavior at very high pressure (267 GPa).
My take: the signal is promising, but pressure requirements this extreme are still a giant engineering constraint. The science is exciting. The product path is still hard.