Will the Economist publish an article about LK-99 or room-temperature superconductors in the next week?
92
155
1.8K
resolved Aug 3
Resolved
YES

Given the enormous amount of hype about LK-99 in so many online spaces including Manifold, I have been very surprised to see the lack of coverage in most mainstream media.

As far as I can tell, at time of writing there has been no coverage at all of LK-99 in the Guardian, the Economist or the BBC.

Will the Economist publish an article about LK-99 or the purported discovery of a room-temperature superconductor in the next week?

Other markets on the subject:

/SimonGrayson/will-the-bbc-news-site-publish-an-a

/SimonGrayson/will-the-guardian-publish-an-articl

/SimonGrayson/will-the-economist-publish-an-artic

Resolution criterea:

  • I will count any article which has been published on https://www.economist.com/ by 22:00 BST on Tuesday 8th August. It doesn't matter whether the article is in behind the paywall or not - I have a subscription so I can read anything they publish behind the paywall.

  • I would expect to see the article in their science and technology section, but it still counts if it is published as a standalone article which appears anywhere else on the site.

  • The primary subject of the article must be the potential discovery of a room-temperature superconductor, the specific research and discussion around LK-99 or the reaction to it. An article debunking or dismissing the research or an article about how the whole thing has been a hoax would count, but an article which is primarily about something else but which has a passing mention of LK-99 or superconductors in general would not.

  • Hopefully there won't be any ambiguity (either they publish an article which is primarily about this subject or they don't), but just in case there is some level of subjectivity, I will not trade on this market.

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predicted YES

Easy

bought Ṁ2,000 of YES

@SimonGrayson resolve, pretty please?

@lukres Yep - that looks like it counts to me!

This is a YES resolution unless I’m missing anything…

predicted YES

Bloomberg, another of The Economist's competitors, published a story about LK-99 this morning. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-03/room-temperature-superconductor-and-lk-99-what-to-know#xj4y7vzkg

I've created a similar market for Arstechnica https://manifold.markets/VictorPoughon/will-arstechnica-publish-an-article?r=VmljdG9yUG91Z2hvbg

Coverage today in Wired, the sort of title which the Economist would probably consider to a comparable brand in its competitive space:

https://www.wired.com/story/inside-the-diy-race-to-replicate-lk-99/

Still nothing in the Economist though. And nothing in the BBC or the Guardian, which I've also

opened markets about:

/SimonGrayson/will-the-bbc-news-site-publish-an-a

/SimonGrayson/will-the-guardian-publish-an-articl

(Duplicate comment - delete)

Does it resolve YES if LK99 is mentioned in The World in Brief?

@JeffreyWagner No, it has to be an article on the subject rather than a mention in the World in Brief.

I think it's pretty rare that something gets a mention in the World in Brief without ever having been the subject of a full article, though!

bought Ṁ40 of NO

@SimonGrayson Thanks for the clarification. It may be worth rewording (or possibly just removing) "I would expect to see the article in their science and technology section, but it still counts if it is published anywhere else on the site." in the description to remove all ambiguity. But you've got my attention - My bet is in!

@JeffreyWagner I've updated the wording there - hopefully that's removed any ambiguity!