Superconductors Make Life (and Science Fiction) Awesome - Science - io9

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Superconductors Make Life (and Science Fiction) Awesome

If you've ever had an MRI scan or accelerated a sub-atomic particle to near light speed, then you've experienced the wonders of superconductors. Here's how they work, what they do, and how they can be used in science fiction.

The basic idea of a superconductor is simple: it's a material that conducts electric current with zero resistance. When you send current through a conventional conductor (typically a copper wire), some of the energy is lost as the electrons flowing through the conductor collide with positively charged ions in the metal. That energy is wasted as heat. A superconductor? No resistance. No heat loss. No waste.

A lesser known, but possibly more important, property of superconductors is that they are perfectly diamagnetic. That means that a superconductor cannot be penetrated by a magnetic field. This is what allows superconductors to levitate above magnets, and is exploited for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Superconductors aren't necessarily exotic materials. The first superconductor discovered (in 1911) was mercury. Aluminum and tin are superconductors too. Unfortunately, those materials only superconduct at incredibly low temperatures, just a few degrees Kelvin above absolute zero. Several elements act as superconductors at atmospheric pressure and ultra-low temperatures — these are known as Type I superconductors.

Type II superconductors are complex metal compounds and ceramics that superconduct at higher temperatures than Type I superconductors. Mercury thallium barium calcium copper ...

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