Comments for Superconductors Are Real, But Are They Good Enough? at http://www.ecogeek.org , comment 1 to 23 out of 20 comments http://www.ecogeek.org Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:27:58 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-29883 Since my earlier post above, I learned that Fractal successfully produced a very large number of samples of our Ultraconductors(tm) on a Contract with the US Air Force. - Mark Goldes Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:26:06 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-28076 hopefully superconductors will be safer and more efficient - Fred Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:26:51 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-27364 Fractal Systems successfully reproduced them. The founder and CEO of that firm will join Chava this summer to lead the commercialization program. - Mark Goldes Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:39:04 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26591 High Temp Superconductors are being phased in by some utility companies for almost a decade. http://www.superconductivitynewsupdate.com/newsletters/PDF/snutopstories19862006.pdf This technology is not new and there are consumers out there that are already benefiting from it, albeit at a small scale. Upgrading the National Grid with High temp superconductors is not impossible but a second generation HTS wire is needed in order to increase the temperature treshold of the wire. I don't think that it's ten years away, as the pdf file on the link states, there are companies that have installed HTS cable and are getting positive results. I'm surprised the ecogeek doesn't know about those trials. - ed Thu, 07 May 2009 00:24:31 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26456 Yes, but there are many other polymer scientists who would surely be in a position to replicate the results. If you're honest about your claims, I just can't see how others (not associated with your own research/company) haven't replicated the results you claim to have observed. That is the major credibility factor missing from your claims. Everything thus far has been an unverifiable claim from either yourself or someone closely related to your company. Until independent groups can replicate the phenomena, it just wont stick; it just wouldn't be science. Having said that, being a commercial endeavour, I can see how you'd be frugal in your publications and collaborations in order to protect your intellectual property. Regardless, it still doesn't help your credibility to make the claims and withhold the details. I, like most others, am still very sceptical. If you're sincere, I very much look forward to seeing your promised publications (or the product, whichever may come first). - Kris Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:43:05 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26455 There are more recent papers that will be listed but there has been a gap in the work. The Ultraconductor program had strong Angel investor support until the dot.com crash. Then, as with all high tech work in California that did not yet have revenue, it slowly wound down until it came to a halt 3 years ago. It is also difficult for superconductor scientists, who know a great deal about metals and ceramics that superconduct, to comprehend these very different polymer materials. Chava is bringing major new funding into this program and it is coming back to life. But, the process if just beginning. We do believe Dr. Grigorov, who pioneered the work, deserves a Nobel Prize. I very much hope he will one day receive that recognition. - Mark Goldes Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:28:27 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26437 Thanks for the reply Mark. Sorry for the terse tone above, but I can't stand disrespect for Science. I still can't see how your claims are viable. Most the above papers are over a decade old and, as far as I can tell, haven't had replicable results. Indeed, if the results were replicable, then there should have been a flood of research happening in the last 10 years. This clearly isn't the case. As I stated before, there would already have been a Nobel prize awarded for such work, but clearly it has fizzled out. If you can prove the results to be correct, though, that would be fantastic. I'd be delighted to be proved wrong. I just can't see how the current scientific understanding can help. Again: where are the recent papers? The "recent" (read: 9 year old) conference papers you cite appear to be reviews, rather than groundbreaking new research. - Kris Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:22:22 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26411 1. Interpretation of Large Room Temperature Diamagnetism at Low Magnetic Fields in Films of Oxidized Atactic Polypropylene in Terms of Superconducting Current Loops [1]. D..M. Eagles [2] 2. Observation of Extremely Large, Field-Dependent Diamagnetism at 300 K in Certain Disordered Organic Materials [3]. D.N. Rogachev et al. [4] 3. Room Temperature Superconductivity in Films of Certain Polymers [5]. L.N. Grigorov et al. 4. Superconductivity at Room Temperature in Oxidized Polyproylene [6]. V.M. Arkhangorodskii et al. . A.F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Acadamy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad 5. Highly Conducting State in Oxidized Polypropylene Films [7]. V.M. Arkhangorodskii et al. . A.F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. 6. Possible High-current Superconductivity at Room Temperature in Oxidized Polypropylene and other Quasi One-dimensional Systems [8]. Eagles D.. 7. Observation of Extremely Large, Field-Dependent Diamagnetism at 300 K in Certain Disordered Organic Materials. (Same title as paper in Journal of Superconductivity which proceeded from this poster paper, presented in Switzerland) [9] . 8. Evidence of a "Supra-Conducting" Electron Liquid Crystal Phase in Insulating Organic Matrix: A New State of Matter? [10] ----------------------------------- [1] Journal of Superconductivity: Incorporating Novel Magnetism, Vol.15, No.4, August 2002 [2] E-mail: d.eagles@ic.ac.uk [3] Journal of Superconductivity: Incorporating Novel Magnetism, vol. 13, No. 6, 2000 [4] Vysokomol. Soedin. B 35 (1993) 1921 [Polymer Science 35 (1993) 1625]. Polymer Science vol. 31, No 11, 1993 [5] JETP Lett. 51 No. 4, 25 Feb 1990, 258].(1989) [6] JETP Lett. Vol 51, No 1, 10 Jan. 1990, 67-72. 603 [Sov. Phys. Doklady 34 (1989) 1016]. [7] Pis'ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 51 (1990) 56 [JETP Lett. 51 (1990) 67]. [8] Physica C, #225 (1994) p.222-234 [9] Paper Presented at Klosters Switzerland, Conference on "Major trends in Superconductivity in the New Millennium" Mar 31-April 4, 2000 [10] Paper Presented at Klosters Switzerland, Conference on "Major trends in Superconductivity in the New Millennium" Mar 31-April 4, 2000 Several more recent papers will be added when this list is updated on the Chava Energy website. - Mark Goldes Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:57:04 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26388 Great stuff here. It's so important we do something to turn our environment around. I saw some pretty good videos at Tomorrows World: http://www.tomorrowsworldcompetition.com/ These students wanted to stir some awareness on climate change and water efficiency. Lets help their voices be heard! Pass the videos along to a friend! - Mark Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:36:49 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26375 The link was borked above. Try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_superconductivity - Kris Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:56:41 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26372 Even Wikipedia has a more thorough account of modern high-temperature superconductivity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_superconductivity. T_c=138K~=-144.15C is not "ambient temperature". - Kris Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:44:22 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26365 Mark clearly has a vested interest in promoting his pseudo-scientific nonsense; he's associated with Chava Energy itself, a company whos foundations are built on vague and vacuous claims of harnessing "zero-point energy" and the like: http://chavaenergy.com/content/our-energy-solutions. Not surprisingly, these are almost the identical claims of his old company, Magnetic Power Inc.: http://www.magneticpowerinc.com/. Changing company names with identical goals is a clear trademark of company policy based on psuedo-science. To date, there has not been one serious scientific publication backing up the claims made. Have you seen a Nobel prize awarded for such work yet? You can bet that if the effects were real, Stockholm would be very interested... - Kris Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:20:50 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26361 Jrin's link to the Luvata product seems to be in step with Yoni's article on low-temperature superconductors. i.e. their products are clearly successfully in use, but still commercially non-viable for long-haul power transfer. I had posted another comment heavily criticising the above post from Mark Goldes; it appears it has been censored. I sincerely hope this is not a case of EcoGeek being overly conservative at the cost of critical scientific journalism. - Kris Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:46:08 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26349 LHC cables are longer and in use as well. See http://www2.luvata.com/en/Products--Markets/Products/Superconductors/ - jrin Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:45:14 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26320 ttanks.. - mirc Sun, 26 Apr 2009 08:30:10 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26315 Ultraconductors will do everything superconductors can do, at ambient temperature. Wire and cable are on the horizon. No cooling needed whatsoever. These polymer materials operate up to 200 degrees C (380 F). A 1-2 micron diameter Ultraconductor will always carry 50 amperes. That's 1/50th the diameter of a human hair. Four Small Business Innovation Contracts have been completed to date. See the chavaenergy.com website for the most current information. - Mark Goldes Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:28:15 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26313 nothing could possibly go wrong there... - jello Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:01:10 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26308 @Al I think you miss the point. Superconductors move more power over less wire and their loss in near zero. So if they could create a superconductor that work at say zero Celsius. You could transmit power from the windy Midwest to New York with no loss. - TheGeek Sat, 25 Apr 2009 19:28:42 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26297 How is this better than HVDC, that already has low losses of power, I think its 5% per 1000km, though thats from memory. And is already in use and proven. - al Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:04:50 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/efficiency/2709#comment-26283 And maybe the most important question: Are they cheap enough? - Glenn Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:47:32 +0100