9 ms·

Yeah, it’s been a pretty solid trend line, new superconductor, first batch is usually kinda shitty, but proves the basics, refining the mix nails down its exact

Yeah, it’s been a pretty solid trend line, new superconductor, first batch is usually kinda shitty, but proves the basics, refining the mix nails down its exact performance characteristics. It’s spongy grainy crap indeed… but as long as their analysis holds up to scrutiny and replication… and whoa boy do I bet there are people already trying to replicate this result as I’m typing my reply and reading the rest of the comments…. As long as the results hold up and this isn’t an abnormally low performing superconductor… i have no doubt this is going to win a Nobel prize. This has been the prize for a long time in this whole discipline, and they may have finally nailed it. We as a species may be on the bring of a revolutionary step forward in what we can achieve in engineering and science. Better instruments and more powerful or sophisticated motors and power systems. It’s heady stuff to think it may happen in my lifetime.

justahuman74 3y ago
As someone who doesn't follow superconductors, what sorts of things about life/engineering/society would change, how dramatic would it be, and more importantly: which stocks would you pick :)
- zamalek 3y ago
  The changes would be more dramatic than the discovery of fire, but would occur gradually.
  - inglor_cz 3y ago
    The changes introduced by discovery of fire were very gradual. No Internet, no written language at all: any innovation back then could only spread as quickly as humans walked, and would temporarily stop at every significant geographic barrier such as sea. Compared to the discovery of fire, the changes from room temperature superconductors would be a flash fire.
    - zamalek 3y ago
      I totally missed the impact of the internet, you are absolutely correct. Something else that I just noticed buried in the paper is that it can be readily deposited onto a substrate (search for UNIVAC in the paper, page 4). That's an incredibly big deal.
      - louthy 3y ago
        For the idiots in the room (me), could you explain why that’s a big deal? Does that make the material more robust and therefore usable in harsher environments?
        zamalek 3y ago
        We can deposit it on chips, there is lots of copper (relatively speaking) in a chip so this could improve efficiency. Of course the semiconductor (silicon) is intentionally resistive, so waste+heat wouldn't go away entirely.
        louthy 3y ago
        Thank you!
- klodolph 3y ago
  The direct impact could be relatively limited, at least for a while. Having a room-temperature superconductor is really awesome, but existing high-temperature superconductors are fragile and expensive. You can make motors, electromagnets, and power grids with much better efficiency—but that’s not so useful if the parts break when you look at them wrong. You’ll still get better magnets and sensors, probably. Maybe even get new types of circuitry. Just for comparison—we use silicon for integrated circuits. Not because it has the best performance, but because it’s convenient, it’s readily available, silicon dioxide is a good insulator, etc.
  - usrusr 3y ago
    Sensors could be huge I think, even with a material that's a total dud in terms of the superconductor power revolution. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a range of novel sensor approaches that haven't really been explored due to the practicality threshold of low temperature superconductivity.
    - peterfirefly 3y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQUID https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQUID
  - nvm0n1 3y ago
    Isn't the big win of superconductors that you can build batteries with them? Like, you just pump them full of power that goes round and round forever with no or trivial losses. I always heard that this was why they were interesting.
    - treeman79 3y ago
      Until someone sneezes and all the power is released at once.
      - willis936 3y ago
        That's only if you run close to the limit. You'd only ever do that in controlled labs.
- rbanffy 3y ago
  One thing I can imagine is desktop MRI machines, or, at least, much cheaper and less finicky big MRI machines that don’t take days to chill to operating temperature. Maglevs are also a popular guess - safer, faster, and more power efficient ground mass transport would be a huge thing. Maybe even magnetic rail space launches. And, of course, military applications (the last few examples I mentioned involve acceleration of big-ish masses to surreally high velocities, which is popular approach to weaponry).
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    Make sure you don't have anything metal lying around your desk.
    - rbanffy 3y ago
      Maybe if it pulsed the magnetic field very quickly it wouldn't be a big deal.
      - jacquesm 3y ago
        Why don't you try it first ;)
        rbanffy 3y ago
        I have too many hobbies right now.
  - giarc 3y ago
    Those are two I see mentioned the most often (MRI and maglevs). To be honest though, those are great things to improve (especially the MRI), however, the amount of hype in this thread and on the internet tells me there must be more than just improved MRI and better trains....
    - Ajedi32 3y ago
      I think a big part of the reason there's so much hype around this is that room temperatures superconductors have long been a famous, almost legendary undiscovered material in popsci. Theoretically possible, but with no proof that any such material actually exists. But now not only is this paper claiming that such a material exists, but also that they made some, and it's easy to manufacture and works at temperatures well beyond ambient. Seems almost too good to be true! So in addition to any immediate practical applications there's also this element of cracking a famous long unsolved problem. It'd be like if we discovered definitive proof that P != NP, or a theoretical basis for FTL communications. Even with no immediate practical applications it'd still be huge news.
- Flatcircle 3y ago
  https://twitter.com/alexkaplan0/status/1684044616528453633?s=46&t=9OYXYnUAaXwdnnK688SAtg https://twitter.com/alexkaplan0/status/1684044616528453633?s...
- londons_explore 3y ago
  Note that when we invented the aeroplane, uses weren't immediately obvious. People would have suggested things like cities in the sky, looking down on things, and traversing marshland easily. The actual main use for planes has turned out to be fast long distance travel. But we don't actually theoretically need to be up in the air to travel fast or far - in fact, had we never invented the aeroplane, we'd probably have cars or trains by now that moved as fast as present day planes do. The revolutionary effect of new inventions is often hard to see, particularly for basic science research like superconductors.
  - midoridensha 3y ago
    You're forgetting the other primary use of airplanes: to drop bombs on things.

justahuman74 3y ago

As someone who doesn't follow superconductors, what sorts of things about life/engineering/society would change, how dramatic would it be, and more importantly: which stocks would you pick :)

zamalek 3y ago
The changes would be more dramatic than the discovery of fire, but would occur gradually.
- inglor_cz 3y ago
  The changes introduced by discovery of fire were very gradual. No Internet, no written language at all: any innovation back then could only spread as quickly as humans walked, and would temporarily stop at every significant geographic barrier such as sea. Compared to the discovery of fire, the changes from room temperature superconductors would be a flash fire.
  - zamalek 3y ago
    I totally missed the impact of the internet, you are absolutely correct. Something else that I just noticed buried in the paper is that it can be readily deposited onto a substrate (search for UNIVAC in the paper, page 4). That's an incredibly big deal.
    - louthy 3y ago
      For the idiots in the room (me), could you explain why that’s a big deal? Does that make the material more robust and therefore usable in harsher environments?
      - zamalek 3y ago
        We can deposit it on chips, there is lots of copper (relatively speaking) in a chip so this could improve efficiency. Of course the semiconductor (silicon) is intentionally resistive, so waste+heat wouldn't go away entirely.
        louthy 3y ago
        Thank you!
klodolph 3y ago
The direct impact could be relatively limited, at least for a while. Having a room-temperature superconductor is really awesome, but existing high-temperature superconductors are fragile and expensive. You can make motors, electromagnets, and power grids with much better efficiency—but that’s not so useful if the parts break when you look at them wrong. You’ll still get better magnets and sensors, probably. Maybe even get new types of circuitry. Just for comparison—we use silicon for integrated circuits. Not because it has the best performance, but because it’s convenient, it’s readily available, silicon dioxide is a good insulator, etc.
- usrusr 3y ago
  Sensors could be huge I think, even with a material that's a total dud in terms of the superconductor power revolution. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a range of novel sensor approaches that haven't really been explored due to the practicality threshold of low temperature superconductivity.
  - peterfirefly 3y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQUID https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQUID
- nvm0n1 3y ago
  Isn't the big win of superconductors that you can build batteries with them? Like, you just pump them full of power that goes round and round forever with no or trivial losses. I always heard that this was why they were interesting.
  - treeman79 3y ago
    Until someone sneezes and all the power is released at once.
    - willis936 3y ago
      That's only if you run close to the limit. You'd only ever do that in controlled labs.
rbanffy 3y ago
One thing I can imagine is desktop MRI machines, or, at least, much cheaper and less finicky big MRI machines that don’t take days to chill to operating temperature. Maglevs are also a popular guess - safer, faster, and more power efficient ground mass transport would be a huge thing. Maybe even magnetic rail space launches. And, of course, military applications (the last few examples I mentioned involve acceleration of big-ish masses to surreally high velocities, which is popular approach to weaponry).
- jacquesm 3y ago
  Make sure you don't have anything metal lying around your desk.
  - rbanffy 3y ago
    Maybe if it pulsed the magnetic field very quickly it wouldn't be a big deal.
    - jacquesm 3y ago
      Why don't you try it first ;)
      - rbanffy 3y ago
        I have too many hobbies right now.
- giarc 3y ago
  Those are two I see mentioned the most often (MRI and maglevs). To be honest though, those are great things to improve (especially the MRI), however, the amount of hype in this thread and on the internet tells me there must be more than just improved MRI and better trains....
  - Ajedi32 3y ago
    I think a big part of the reason there's so much hype around this is that room temperatures superconductors have long been a famous, almost legendary undiscovered material in popsci. Theoretically possible, but with no proof that any such material actually exists. But now not only is this paper claiming that such a material exists, but also that they made some, and it's easy to manufacture and works at temperatures well beyond ambient. Seems almost too good to be true! So in addition to any immediate practical applications there's also this element of cracking a famous long unsolved problem. It'd be like if we discovered definitive proof that P != NP, or a theoretical basis for FTL communications. Even with no immediate practical applications it'd still be huge news.
Flatcircle 3y ago
https://twitter.com/alexkaplan0/status/1684044616528453633?s=46&t=9OYXYnUAaXwdnnK688SAtg https://twitter.com/alexkaplan0/status/1684044616528453633?s...
londons_explore 3y ago
Note that when we invented the aeroplane, uses weren't immediately obvious. People would have suggested things like cities in the sky, looking down on things, and traversing marshland easily. The actual main use for planes has turned out to be fast long distance travel. But we don't actually theoretically need to be up in the air to travel fast or far - in fact, had we never invented the aeroplane, we'd probably have cars or trains by now that moved as fast as present day planes do. The revolutionary effect of new inventions is often hard to see, particularly for basic science research like superconductors.
- midoridensha 3y ago
  You're forgetting the other primary use of airplanes: to drop bombs on things.