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Breakthrough in Superconductivity Research

posted by mattie_p on Monday February 17 2014, @07:37PM   Printer-friendly
from the how-super-is-it dept.

romanr writes:

"Copper oxides, also known as cuprates, are the most promising materials for superconductivity. Today, cuprates can be superconductive at temperatures as high as -150 °C. But for many years scientists wondered why they lose superconductivity when concentration of electrons drops below certain level. Most scientist thought that the cuprates gradually became insulators.

Scientists from Université de Sherbrooke discovered that the loss of superconductivity is because of a sudden appearance of a distinct electronic phase in the material that enters into competition with the superconductivity and weakens it. It means, that higher temperature superconductors will be possible if we can get rid of the competing phase. This new approach opens a way to get an ambient temperature superconductivity."

 
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by mhajicek on Monday February 17 2014, @11:11PM

    by mhajicek (51) on Monday February 17 2014, @11:11PM (#1340)

    Long, low resistance power lines would also make wind, water, and solar power more practical.

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  • (Score: 1) by Covalent on Tuesday February 18 2014, @12:04AM

    by Covalent (43) on Tuesday February 18 2014, @12:04AM (#1385) Journal

    Agreed! You could build wind farms far offshore or in Kansas and still send the power to NYC or LA or wherever.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by TheRaven on Tuesday February 18 2014, @04:53AM

    by TheRaven (270) on Tuesday February 18 2014, @04:53AM (#1485) Journal
    Resistive losses are already under 10% for quite long hauls. Superconductors would have to be really cheap to make them useful for long hauls. If you can build wind / water / solar generators sufficiently cheaply, then it's probably better to just put up with the 10% loss than invest in hundreds of miles of superconducting power line, most likely requiring burying underground.
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