Physicist faked room-temp superconductivity — 5 retractions, thesis 21% plagiarized

Ranga P. Dias was a rising star at the University of Rochester, claiming to have achieved what generations of physicists had pursued: room-temperature superconductivity. In 2020, his group published a paper in Nature claiming superconductivity in carbonaceous sulfur hydride at high pressure. In 2023, they published another in Nature claiming it in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride at near-ambient pressure. If true, the discoveries would have revolutionized energy transmission, electronics, and transportation.

The claims began to unravel when physicists Jorge Hirsch and James Hamlin identified peculiarities in the data. Hamlin discovered that Dias had copied data from a 2021 paper — the data was from an experiment on a different material, found in Dias's own 2013 PhD thesis. Worse, at least 21% of Dias's thesis was plagiarized, much of it from Hamlin's thesis. An investigation by the American Physical Society found evidence of data fabrication. The University of Rochester concluded in March 2024 that Dias had engaged in research misconduct.

Nature retracted both papers. Five of Dias's papers were retracted in total, and another five received expressions of concern. The University of Rochester stripped Dias of his students and labs. He was no longer employed there as of November 2024. His startup, Unearthly Materials, which claimed funding from the CEOs of OpenAI and Spotify, was revealed to have fabricated those claims. The case was described as a damaging blow to the credibility of superconductivity research.