The discovery could lead to hyper efficient electricity grids and hovering trains
A team of scientists say they have discovered a new superconductor material that could change the world of energy and electronics.
Researchers from the University of Rochester say they have created a superconducting material that works at room temperature, a breakthrough that the world of science has been chasing for more than a century.
The discovery of a material that is able to transmit electricity without resistance, and pass magnetic fields around the material, at room temperature and an ambient pressure would be a groundbreaking moment.
Existing superconductors require expensive and bulky chilling systems to conduct electricity without resistance.
An example of a real-world use of the material would be power grids being able to seamlessly transmit energy. Currently, grids lose around 200 million megawatt hours through resistance.
The new material could also contribute to nuclear fusion, a long-awaited process that could create unlimited power.
Other applications include high speed, hovering trains and new kinds of medical equipment, scientists suggest.
The research, published in the journal Nature, was conducted by a team led by physicist Ranga Dias.
“If this is correct, it’s completely revolutionary,” James Hamlin, a physicist at the University of Florida who was not involved with the work, told Science.
Dias caused a sensation in 2020 when he and the same group reported the creation of two slightly less breakthrough but similarly superconducting materials in papers that were published in Nature and Physical Review Letters.
But after other scientists questioned these findings, and were unable to replicate the results, they were retracted.
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