4 ms·

Petrol is just "better" coal. Except that you can't make flight with steam engines. When room-temperature SC becomes possible, previously unthinkable applicat

Petrol is just "better" coal. Except that you can't make flight with steam engines. When room-temperature SC becomes possible, previously unthinkable applications suddenly become viable.

littlestymaar 3y ago
Maybe, but the same was already said when cuprate SC appeared in the late eighties with their relatively high critical T°, but they haven't really fulfilled their promise…
- chasd00 3y ago
  Iirc the LHC experiment would not be possible without those superconductors. That’s a pretty big deal.
- RyEgswuCsn 3y ago
  Are they really the same though? I mean we are talking about room temperature, not the"(relatively) high temperature", a term that is arguably misleading to a layperson. I'd imagine most people who are informed of the difference would recognize that cuprate SC is nowhere near as useful.
  - Firmwarrior 3y ago
    Every article older than a couple weeks talking about superconductors goes on and on about how useful they are, except for the logistics of keeping them cold Example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_ene...
    - littlestymaar 3y ago
      Superconductors suporting high current are incredibly useful, but that's a big caveat. There's a reason MRI scans still use the super tedious helium-cooling instead of a much simpler nitrogen cooking allowed by cuprates: the cuprates SC aren't good enough for MRI.
buildsjets 3y ago
Just to be the pedantic one… I did some searching and found one single example of a steam-powered aircraft that actually flew. A bunch of other attempts are listed on wiki, all unsuccessful. https://books.google.com/books?id=AygDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1933+plane+%22Popular+Science%22&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q=Popular%20Science%201933%20plane%20%22Popular%20Science%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=AygDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Sc...
- buildsjets 3y ago
  And thanks, now I am researching small steam boilers that I could install in a Pietenpol homebuilt aircraft that a friend and I have been talking about building for a few years now. All I need is 30 kilowatts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietenpol_Air_Camper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietenpol_Air_Camper
- RyEgswuCsn 3y ago
  I knew it! Yeah, I really meant coal-powered steam engines.
  - buildsjets 3y ago
    If you built a coal gasifier, or maybe used a powdered/pelletized form of coal, I could see it being plausible. (but still dumb) Having just returned from a week at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s yearly gathering, I’m kind of interested in using up some of my employer’s time to see if I can make it work, at least on paper. Luckily I even have a budget line available for silly studies like this.
- eesmith 3y ago
  Sweet! I found a video clip at https://archive.org/details/turner_video_11514 https://archive.org/details/turner_video_11514 at timestamp 54:47 for about 20 seconds. (Found that reference via https://web.archive.org/web/20030203103015/http://www.flysteam.co.uk/history.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20030203103015/http://www.flyste... which I found via https://archive.org/details/australian_model_engineering-issue_110-2003_09_10/page/32/mode/2up?q=%22steam+powered+aircraft%22 https://archive.org/details/australian_model_engineering-iss... )
rurban 3y ago
But not visiting Andromeda, the next star system. Which would be the only such application I can think of now.

Petrol is just "better" coal. Except that you can't make flight with steam engines. When room-temperature SC becomes possible, previously unthinkable applications suddenly become viable.

littlestymaar 3y ago

Maybe, but the same was already said when cuprate SC appeared in the late eighties with their relatively high critical T°, but they haven't really fulfilled their promise…

chasd00 3y ago
Iirc the LHC experiment would not be possible without those superconductors. That’s a pretty big deal.
RyEgswuCsn 3y ago
Are they really the same though? I mean we are talking about room temperature, not the"(relatively) high temperature", a term that is arguably misleading to a layperson. I'd imagine most people who are informed of the difference would recognize that cuprate SC is nowhere near as useful.
- Firmwarrior 3y ago
  Every article older than a couple weeks talking about superconductors goes on and on about how useful they are, except for the logistics of keeping them cold Example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_ene...
  - littlestymaar 3y ago
    Superconductors suporting high current are incredibly useful, but that's a big caveat. There's a reason MRI scans still use the super tedious helium-cooling instead of a much simpler nitrogen cooking allowed by cuprates: the cuprates SC aren't good enough for MRI.

buildsjets 3y ago

Just to be the pedantic one… I did some searching and found one single example of a steam-powered aircraft that actually flew. A bunch of other attempts are listed on wiki, all unsuccessful. https://books.google.com/books?id=AygDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1933+plane+%22Popular+Science%22&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q=Popular%20Science%201933%20plane%20%22Popular%20Science%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=AygDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Sc...

buildsjets 3y ago
And thanks, now I am researching small steam boilers that I could install in a Pietenpol homebuilt aircraft that a friend and I have been talking about building for a few years now. All I need is 30 kilowatts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietenpol_Air_Camper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietenpol_Air_Camper
RyEgswuCsn 3y ago
I knew it! Yeah, I really meant coal-powered steam engines.
- buildsjets 3y ago
  If you built a coal gasifier, or maybe used a powdered/pelletized form of coal, I could see it being plausible. (but still dumb) Having just returned from a week at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s yearly gathering, I’m kind of interested in using up some of my employer’s time to see if I can make it work, at least on paper. Luckily I even have a budget line available for silly studies like this.
eesmith 3y ago
Sweet! I found a video clip at https://archive.org/details/turner_video_11514 https://archive.org/details/turner_video_11514 at timestamp 54:47 for about 20 seconds. (Found that reference via https://web.archive.org/web/20030203103015/http://www.flysteam.co.uk/history.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20030203103015/http://www.flyste... which I found via https://archive.org/details/australian_model_engineering-issue_110-2003_09_10/page/32/mode/2up?q=%22steam+powered+aircraft%22 https://archive.org/details/australian_model_engineering-iss... )

rurban 3y ago

But not visiting Andromeda, the next star system. Which would be the only such application I can think of now.