Science News Roundup: Analysis-Superconductor claims spark investor frenzy, but scientists are skeptical; DNA of enslaved iron workers illuminates African American history and more

Superconductors are materials that allow electrical current to flow with no resistance, a property that would revolutionize power grids where energy is lost in transmission as well as advance fields such as computing chips, where electrical resistance acts as a speed limit. DNA of enslaved iron workers illuminates African American history Not far from Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat in Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland, lies the remnants of an iron forge called Catoctin Furnace founded in the late 18th century, an important site for understanding the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in early U.S. history.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Analysis-Superconductor claims spark investor frenzy, but scientists are skeptical

Last week, two papers by South Korean scientists made an extraordinary claim that sparked a social media frenzy and pushed up prices of some stocks in China and South Korea: the discovery of a practical superconductor. Superconductors are materials that allow electrical current to flow with no resistance, a property that would revolutionize power grids where energy is lost in transmission as well as advance fields such as computing chips, where electrical resistance acts as a speed limit.

DNA of enslaved iron workers illuminates African American history

Not far from Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat in Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland, lies the remnants of an iron forge called Catoctin Furnace founded in the late 18th century, an important site for understanding the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in early U.S. history. The site now also is providing unique insight into African American history thanks to research involving DNA obtained from the remains of 27 individuals buried in a cemetery for enslaved people at Catoctin Furnace. The study reveals the ancestry of some of the enslaved people who toiled there in the decades after the nation's founding and identified thousands of living relatives, many still in Maryland.

Ancient preserved flamingo egg found in Mexico during airport construction

An ancient flamingo fossil egg between 8,000 and 12,000 years old was uncovered at a busy construction site for a new airport in Mexico, officials from the Latin American country said. The remarkably preserved egg from the Pleistocene period is incredibly rare. It is the first discovery of its kind from the Phoenicopteridae flamingo family in the Americas and only the second in the world, according to Mexico's heritage institute INAH on Wednesday.

S.Korean experts seek to verify room-temperature superconductor claim

South Korean experts said on Thursday they would set up a committee to verify claims that a room temperature superconductor has been discovered, which has driven investor frenzy as well as peer skepticism since. The Korean Society of Superconductivity and Cryogenics, a group of experts, said in a statement on Thursday it had asked Quantum Energy Research Centre to submit samples in order to verify its researchers' findings of a room-temperature superconductor material, made public last month on a website showing research before formal publication.

Voyager Space and Airbus deepen tie-up on new space station

U.S. space venture company Voyager Space and Airbus said on Wednesday they will co-operate more closely in the race to build a private version of the International Space Station. The two companies announced plans in January for Airbus to provide design support for Voyager's Starlab, one of three projects pre-selected by NASA to draw up plans for a potential commercial successor to the ISS.

Ancient whale from Peru may be most massive animal ever on Earth

Move over, blue whale. There is a new contender for the most massive animal in Earth's history. Scientists on Wednesday described fossils of an early whale unearthed in Peru called Perucetus colossus that lived about 38-40 million years ago during the Eocene epoch - a creature built somewhat like a manatee that may have topped the mass of the blue whale, long considered the heftiest animal on record.