Has the Mythical Unicorn of Materials Science Finally Been Found?

gbrumfiel writes "For years, physicists have been on the hunt for a material so weird, it might as well be what unicorn horns are made of. Topological insulators are special types of material that conduct electricity, but only on their outermost surface. If they exist, and that's a real IF, then they would play host to all sorts of bizarre phenomenon: virtual particles that are their own anti-particles, strange quantum effects, dogs and cats living together, that sort of thing. Now three independent teams think they've finally found the stuff that the dreams of theoretical physicists are made of: samarium hexaboride."

So would it be

[durrr]

Unicornium, or Monohornium?

Re:are there any

[ColdWetDog]

practical interesting applications for such a material ?

Patents. Patents. More Patents. Lawsuits.

You know, the usual stuff.

Re:Don't tell the Japanese

[r1348]

Bah, wake me up when they have something close to Kentucky Fried Panda.

Re:slashdot disappoints..

[Zeromous]

Clearly this was intended to create MASS HYSTERIA

Re:So would it be

[slashmydots]

Nope, North Koreanium. That is, after all, where unicorns were discovered (despite the fact that this material and story have nothing to do with unicorns)

Re:Don't tell the Japanese

[slashmydots]

Unlike most other Japanese medicine/nutrition, this one actually would have magical properties and unusual properties. Tiger penis, not so much, lol.

Re:How does this affect audiophiles?

[MiniMike]

The new high-end cables will come in two variants: a 'base' version using SmB6 costing merely twice as much as the current high end cable, and a 'high end' version using SmB7 to 'capture the extra bass' and 'significantly enhance the audio experience' or somesuch, and will only cost 4x as much as the current high end cable. Both variants will provide exactly the same sound quality as a generic $5 cable (or a $20 cable from Best Buy) to everyone except the person that paid for them.