3 ms·
Consider a superconducting belt laid under the oceans, carrying a large fraction of civilization’s power needs. Consider what would happen if the technology fa
by wrycoder 3y ago
Consider a superconducting belt laid under the oceans, carrying a large fraction of civilization’s power needs.
Consider what would happen if the technology failed, and it suddenly transitioned to normal conduction.
Sounds like a great SF story, even if the actual effect is minimal. (I haven’t done the back of the envelope calculation :)
- Gud 3y agoPresumably the relay protection would trip the breaker for over current. Essentially they would function like HVDC cables, and we already operate plenty of those.
- BobbyH 3y agoThis is actually the plot behind Larry Niven's Ringworld! A gigantic civilization has created a Ringworld (a rotating wheel artificial world), until a superconducting plague (https://news.larryniven.net/concordance/main.asp?alpha=S#superconductorplague https://news.larryniven.net/concordance/main.asp?alpha=S#sup...) destroys the material that enables room-temperature superconductivity, thus reducing the entire Ringworld to the dark ages...