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Microsoft-backed Veir is bringing superconductors to data centers
- jeffbee 11mo ago[flagged]
- howenterprisey 11mo agoSince my work is vaguely related to superconductors, I saw this comment and was excited to dig into all the errors in the article, but actually couldn't find any in the parts discussing the superconductors specifically. (I don't know data centers and can't comment on that bit.) 77 K is indeed an appropriate temperature for LN2 coolant for high-temperature superconductors like they're using. What errors did you see?
- Dylan16807 11mo agoWell the third paragraph implies that "low-voltage" is a factor against having lots of heat and size, when the opposite is true. Otherwise nothing pops out to me.
- alexey-salmin 11mo agoThe very first sentence is confusing. "Power demands of data centers have grown from tens to 200 kilowatts in just a few years". I assume they're talking a single rack here, not "power demand of data centers".
- analog31 11mo agoI casually research this topic once in a while, and so far, have not seen high temperature superconductors emerge from either the laboratory or short haul pilot projects. Is this technology close to widespread commercial use?
- luz666 11mo agoThe technology is widespread, you can buy spools of wires and wind your own coils. A spool might still be in the range of 3k$+, probably due to the manufacturing costs of all those single wire strands. However, as we already know, the superconductivity currently starts only at low temps and I think the wires are limited by a maximum current (max field density?) If you handle the spool, NEVER lose the beginning of the wire, always fixate it, otherwise there might be a knots after some unspooling, then you might need to buy a new one.
- doubled112 11mo agoLearned the lesson about the end of the wire with 3D printer filament.
- hyghjiyhu 11mo agoHigh temperature super conductors is a term of art. It does not mean what it sounds like. They still have to be pretty cold.
- analog31 11mo agoIndeed, ever since the first high-Tc superconductors were announced, the holy grail has been 77k, i.e., liquid nitrogen. In addition, critical current, field, and pressure are important for practical applications.
- wiml 11mo agoI'm not sure what your criteria are, but high-Tc superconductors are used in a bunch of commercial applications. Magnet windings, very high-Q RF filters, and some exotic switching applications. "High temperature" still means liquid-nitrogen cooled but compared to liquid helium that's swelteringly hot.
- JumpCrisscross 11mo agoDumb fact: the layer of Uranus’s atmosphere where it’s 1 bar is also around 75 K, the temperature high-temperature superconductors like to live at.