A report just out in Nature titled Evidence of near-ambient superconductivity in a N-doped lutetium hydride, Nathan Dasenbrock-Gammon, Elliot Snider, Raymond McBride, Hiranya Pasan, Dylan Durkee, Nugzari Khalvashi-Sutter, Sasanka Munasinghe, Sachith E. Dissanayake, Keith V. Lawler, Ashkan Salamat & Ranga P. Dias Nature volume 615, pages244–250 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05742-0, makes the following statement in the abstract-

“Here we report evidence of superconductivity on a nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride with a maximum T_c of 294 K at 10 kbar, that is, superconductivity at room temperature and near-ambient pressures.” Emphasis mine.

According to Wikipedia, while lutetium isn’t particularly abundant, it is more abundant than silver in the earth’s crust. The word hydride is a little confusing here. In some contexts is refers to a metal with absorbed hydrogen as a solid solution. To chemists like me it suggests H^– anions bound to a metal cation. From what I can tell, reality sits somewhere between these two bookends.

The abstract says that 10 kbar is near-ambient pressure. This number converts to 9869 atmospheres though it is below megabar pressures. I guess I’m not calibrated properly for this.

The abstract is available but the article sits behind a paywall. Interesting research but not presently worth $39.95 to me today.