| Superconductors Research Heats Up |
| Written by Matt James | ||
| Monday, 18 June 2007 | ||
 The race is on to find the "holy grail" of superconductor
research - a material which transmits electricity with zero loss at
room temperatures. Such a development would usher in a new era of technology: high
efficiency mag-lev trains, heat-free computers, cheap rail-gun launched
spaceships, zero-loss power lines and portable medical imaging are just
a few inventions awaiting it's discovery. Some scientists believe it's just
a matter of getting the right materials together under the right
circumstances, and researchers are plying to be the first to acheive it...
and win the Nobel Prize for physics, a patent worth billions of
dollars, and a high profile interview with EcoGeek.org.The latest and greatest materials in the field, nicknamed "high temperature superconductors", will only operate at temperatures below -140° Celsius. This may not seem warm to those of us who think of day-old pizza as "cold", but it's a huge improvement over the first generation of superconductors, which operate just a few degrees above absolute zero (-273° C). The
implications for the environment are clear: superconductors are up to
100 times more compact than their regular counterparts, twice as
efficient, and lose no energy to heat dissipation. Imagine if the
world's computers all ran cold to the touch... no fans, no overheating,
and every chip overclocked to the theoretical limit! Here's today's roundup of the latest news in the field:
Comments
(1)
Polymer equivalents of room temperature
written by Mark Goldes , June 18, 2007 | ||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Science, technology gadgets and...baby seals. We're in a bit of an eco-mess, but we've got the brains to lick any problem. And that's why EcoGeek.org publishes up to ten stories daily about innovations that are saving the planet.
And if that sounds interesting to you, then congratulations, you're an EcoGeek.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Our subsidiary, Room Temperature Superconductors Inc. has completed four Small Business Innovation Research contracts on these remarkable materials.
See our website for additional information.
Mark
707 829-9391 direct