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    Superconductors tagged posts

    Scientists Create Laser-Activated Superconductor

    February 8, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    High speed maglev trains use superconductors to make the train hover above the track (Image from Shutterstock, cyo bo)

    High speed maglev trains use superconductors to make the train hover above the track (Image from Shutterstock, cyo bo)

    Shining lasers at superconductors can make them work at higher temperatures, suggests new findings from an international team of scientists including the University of Bath. Superconductors conduct electricity without power loss and produce strong magnetic fields, used in medical scanners, super-fast electronic circuits and in Maglev trains with superconducting magnets to allow train levitation over tracks, eliminating friction.

    Currently superconductors only work at very low temperatures, requiring liquid nitrogen or helium to maintain their temperature...

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    Where are the Hoverboards? Professor says not too far off

    October 21, 2015, Categories  Technology/Electronics, Physics

    Professor Matthew Sullivan levitates a DeLorean figurine using superconductors. Credit: Image courtesy of Ithaca College

    Professor Matthew Sullivan levitates a DeLorean figurine using superconductors. Credit: Image courtesy of Ithaca College

    The levitating technology Marty McFly encountered in his jaunt through Oct. 21, 2015 during the 1989 film “Back to the Future II” isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem, thanks to superconductivity. “We’re probably closer to being able to create a transportation system that’s levitating than we are to creating personal automobiles that can both fly and drive,” said A/Prof Matthew C. Sullivan

    When properly cooled, a superconductor will resist magnetic attraction and actually float above a magnet...

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    Hydrogen Sulfide becomes Superconductive at -70C, when placed under 1.5 million bar pressure

    August 20, 2015, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

     

    This corresponds to half of the pressure of Earth’s core. With their high-pressure experiments the Mainz researchers have thus not only set a new record for superconductivity, their findings have also highlighted a potential new way to transport current at room temperature with no loss.

    For many solid-state physicists, superconductors that are suitable for use at room temperature are still a dream. Special copper oxide ceramics, so-called cuprates, took the leading positions in terms of transition temperature, i.e., the temperature at which the material loses its resistance. The record for a ceramic of this type is roughly -140C at normal air pressure -109C at high pressure. In the ceramics, a special, unconventional form of superconductivity occurs...

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