Similar to recent 'Asteroid Mining' company unveiling, a new startup, Conductivity Inc. announces press conference about new, potential breakthrough in technology. However, their lead scientist presses the wrong key during presentation, and, while the shown image is immediately killed, the screen actually mades into TV, where it is analysed and copied.
Turns out Conductivity Inc. found a way to produce a relatively easy to manufacture room temperature superconducting material, priced 55$ per gram (that is almost entirely material cost, which cannot be brought down).
Now, questions:
1) Would said discovery change the world in any way, or would costs relegate it to 'curious, but ultimately niche' applications?
2) Given that, based on leaked screen, any reasonably competent materials science department on good university can turn 1 mln $ and two months of time into reverse engineering of the the production process, and that the Conductivity Inc. immediately starts patenting it, can the company retain monopoly for production, or at least try to delay competition in legal battle, or is their invention basically worthless now?
3) Can the invention start war somehow?
