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Warming Up to Superconductivity

sati
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A recent breakthrough in superconductivity led by a Canadian-German team has aimed to create a superconductor that can function at room temperature. Currently superconductors are only able to function at very low temperatures -- near absolute zero for copper and at the low "critical temperature" for other metals such as tin and aluminum. Incredibly, a superconductor functioning at its prime capacity can maintain a continuous electric current indefinitely without a power source, creating zero friction, or loosing heat. This technology is currently being used in MRI machines and in the magnets that allow high-speed trains to float above their tracks.

The team led by John Tse and doctoral candidate Yansun Yao, have produced the first scientific proof that a superconductor can be created from hydrogen compounds known as hydrides or “silane, which is the silicon analog of methane -- combining a single silicon atom with four hydrogen atoms to form a molecular hydride”.

Read more about John Tse’s research.  

Story via Slashdot  Image via Creative Commons: "Electricity" by pittaya   on Flickr Image via Creative Commons: "When the sun sets, electricity takes over" by jalalspages on Flicker

 

Comments

Human analog: chilling out to come together?

Submitted by JED on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 10:01.
Nice blog, sati. Superconductivity has a weird cousin, called "Bose-Einstein Condensation" in which supercooled masses of atoms correlate their wave functions, and act as one. Trippy shit. I've wondered, is there a macro-analog in human affairs? Flash to Tibetan monks, sitting in clouds of incense, chanting. Are they putting their minds in quantum superposition? Could I get a bunch of my homies in a similar state? Would biofeedback tech help? I heard Kurt Smith, head honcho at Wild Divine, talk about a mass brainwave entrainment experiment with 100 participants. Picture that times 1K, online. Talk about your hundredth monkey! I've done some fieldwork with group entrainment using commercial binaural beat sound programs broadcast to a half-dozen participants with low-power FM stereo. Harmonic chanting was encouraged. Effects were rewarding enough that the group kept it up twice a month for over a year. Altered states, without molecular agents. Practice for the Singularity?