  Electronic bands near the Fermi energy with minimal energy dispersion in
k-space, i.e. "flat bands", are often said to be an important characteristic of
superconducting materials. When extending over a significant region of the
k-space, this leads to peaks in the electronic density of states. If one could
systematically search the calculated electronic structures of materials,
already available through the Materials Genome Initiative, for such peaks, then
the rate of new superconductor discovery could be accelerated greatly. Here we
test whether this characteristic actually distinguishes known superconductors
from known non-superconductors. We find that there is an anticorrelation for
tetragonal symmetry materials, but that hexagonal symmetry superconductors
exhibit such peaks more frequently than hexagonal non-superconductors. More
generally, our study's limitations underscore the importance of standardizing
digital resources for achieving the accelerated materials discovery paradigm
promised by the Materials Genome Initiative.
