2307.12008.pdf (arxiv.org)
[2307.12008] The First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor (arxiv.org)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LK-99
That would be amazing. Iāll wait for the peer-reviewed publication before I pop the champagne though. Still that would be amazing. Mag-lev everything!
According to Bing, there are other benefits aside from floating trains:
Hurry up! Iām getting older and will need self driving cars in another 15-20 years when they go to take my license away (like they should have done when I was 16).
5 Likes
As to long distance line losses, existing materials are about 96% efficient in moving electricity hundreds of miles, regardless of the method used to generate it. The question is how much will replacing the old with the new materials increase the cost of delivered electricity above existing prices. In other words, is the squeeze worth the juice?
The most efficient way to reduce long distance line losses is to build generation very close to population centers. Unfortunately, āNIMBYā (not in my back yard) has become āBANANAā (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything).
4 Likes
Wasnāt this shot down last spring?
I can tell you one area where I donāt want any superconduction. But then Iāll get suspended.
3 Likes
There were some interesting discussions of this on Hacker News.
Most of the usages Bing found will require quite a bit of scaling up, so donāt hold your breath, but there is one application where this could pay off almost immediately ā small-scale antennas for specific wavelengths.
Why do you think Texas also leads the country in wind power generation - wouldnāt want to ruin their beautiful scenic views elsewhereā¦among other ambivalencesā¦
1 Like
True. Plus wind power is intermittent. Putting electricity on power lines is like scheduling trains. You gotta know when the power is needed and where to schedule a path.
Some wind farms want a guaranteed open path 24/7 just in case the wind is blowing, which is usually less than 30% of the minutes in a day. Huge cost and inefficiency the wind operators expect someone else to pay for.
Itās about physics and economics. Get the physics wrong and the lights go out. Get the economics wrong and costs skyrocket while the lights are out.
1 Like
Superconducting Microprocessors? Turns Out Theyāre Ultra-Efficient - IEEE Spectrum
Superconducting computing - Wikipedia
Why room-temperature superconductors could revolutionize electronics (fastcompany.com)
A nice thoughtful article in Ars Technica on this issue, and on efforts to reproduce the researchersā findings:
1 Like
Thanks for posting this. Nice to see Ars doing what it does (did?) best.
1 Like
Looks like this lab has somehow found the receipt of a philosopher stone (if it works), with only a fine tune balance of ingredients leading to the magical resultā¦
This situation makes me think about the quest to verify Famous Japanese Mathematician Shinichi Mochizukiās abc conjecture proof, on which people are still scratching their heads today 11 years after it was releasedā¦
5 Likes
I am constantly amazed at the collective intelligence that has been gathered on this little backwater site.
2 Likes
Unfortunately it may have been short-livedā¦
This was an interesting statement:
So basically, had they flipped the āsuperconductorā or the levitating piece upside down, it would have snapped into contact rather than floated. Note to self: check polarity effects when using the Meissner effect (levitation) as proof.
4 Likes
So much for the race to the Nobel Prize.
2 Likes
How many times have we had announcements of cold fusionā¦
3 Likes
Race to publish has always been a thing. I suppose the web now prioritizes speed to announce. The retractions rarely get bad press. Still, feels like Brittany ādid it again.ā
2 Likes