
Superconductivity without cooling? - Noelkd
http://www.mpg.de/8785897/superconductivity-room-temperature
======
natejenkins
The actual publication,
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v516/n7529/full/nature1...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v516/n7529/full/nature13875.html#ref9),
is not quite so bold as to say they've demonstrated room temperature
superconductivity, rather:

"Among these, the enhancement in the dx2-y2 character of the in-plane
electronic structure is likely to favour superconductivity."

They cite two of their past publications, "Optically enhanced coherent
transport in YBa2Cu3O6.5 by ultrafast redistribution of interlayer coupling,"
and "Optically induced coherent transport far above Tc in underdoped YBCuO."
If they had actually unequivocally shown pulsed YBCO to be superconducting at
room temperature the title would be more like, "ROOM TEMPERATURE
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY YES!!!!!"

The real demonstration of superconductivity is measuring a Meissner effect
(exclusion of magnetic field) in the material
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meissner_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meissner_effect)).
I haven't read the articles in detail, but it sounds to me like they have seen
some properties that are similar to those found in the superconducting state,
but they have not measured a definitive signature of superconductivity.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Was going to say something similar. But even though the results are not room
temperature superconductors, it does have some tantalizing hints of ways that
we might get there.

------
unchocked
This is a great example of scientific reporting: it deals with the findings of
the research itself rather than some "human" narrative, and it names and cites
the actual materials and publications involved while using common language
where possible.

Also, a very cool finding. Interesting that only a few picometers of atomic
shift yields superconductivity at room temperature.

~~~
natejenkins
It might not sound like a lot but you need to put it in the scale of the
atoms. That is about a 1% change in atomic spacing, which means a 1% strain
applied to the sample, which is pretty big (think about how much weight you'd
need to hang off of a steel bar to get it to stretch by 1%).

Pressure and strain are known to have large effects on superconductivity. In
fact the highest known Tc of any material is HgBCuO under externally applied
pressure ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-
temperature_superconductiv...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-
temperature_superconductivity)).

------
baldfat
Room temperature superconductivity (0 Celsius) = perpetual motion machine to
me. They are both stored in the same region of my brain. This would CHANGE
EVERYTHING

Finding a room temperature superconductor "would have enormous technological
importance and, for example, help to solve the world’s energy problems,
provide for faster computers, allow for novel memory-storage devices, and
enable ultra-sensitive sensors, among many other possibilities." from
[http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_group.php?i...](http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_group.php?id=3702)

~~~
sysk
From the article, superconductivity is already possible at "higher"
temperatures (-200 Celsius). Why would 0 Celsius specifically make it
"perpetual motion machine" like to you (in the sense of breaking some
fundamental physical law)? If I recall correctly, 0 Celsius is not a very
significant number apart for being the freezing point of water.

~~~
corndoge
STP[1] is 0 °C, 100 kPa. It's room temperature for science.

Edit: The significance of this is that superconductors that operate at room
temperature did not exist. If they come into existence, and mature, you can
expect to see the development of technology which appears to be powered by
magic.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_conditions_for_temper...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_conditions_for_temperature_and_pressure)

~~~
sysk
I understand that the practical implications of room temperature
superconductivity would be huge.

I simply found the "= perpetual motion machine" part strange given that such
machines are known to be impossible while >0K superconductivity is known to be
possible (and if superconductivity is impossible past a given temperature, it
would be a surprising coincidence if that temperature happened to be 273.15K).
Now that I read the comment again, the original commenter probably didn't mean
it literally.

~~~
Dylan16807
Well it is literally perpetual motion.

And yes as far as exact temperature it's about qualitative differences, not
quantitative ones.

The first revolutionary hurdle is making it work on a desktop with a simple
fridge-style cooling mechanism.

The second hurdle is making it work around 40-50C, then your phone and almost
everything can take advantage of it.

------
philsnow
Nuts, this fell off the front page before I could write this, so probably
nobody will ever see it.

> The precise mechanism remained unclear, however – until the physicists were
> able to solve the mystery with an experiment at the LCLS in the US, the
> world’s most powerful X-ray laser.

Neither Stanford nor SLAC gets a mention here. I wonder if the article author
deliberated over whether to include their names and then decided not to, or if
it was just an oversight. Either option is not great for SLAC.

The national labs don't get nearly the love they ought to. One almost never
hears about them unless it's Los Alamos or Livermore.

------
dghughes
Maybe we'll have an MRI in every home someday.

~~~
jfoutz
Not today, and tomorrow isn't looking good either. But if i had to make a 100
year bet, i'd bet fmri's are the human computer interface of the future.

~~~
lotsofmangos
If I had to make a 100 year bet on what would be the human computer interface
of the future, after getting it contractually agreed that whoever is forcing
me to place this bet is responsible for me surviving another 100 years, I
would probably then bet on Tetris, just to annoy everyone.

That said, I don't think it will be fmri either. Personally, I'd be betting on
something involving an implanted optical lace driving genetically modified
cell sites, with possibly a shielded skull to actually block rf shenanigans,
as a futuristic nod to all the tinfoil hat wearers.

~~~
colechristensen
I can't imagine the ultimate HMI being anything but synaptic, specifically a
bio-engineered cell which has a human synapse on one end and an
electromagnetic interface on the other.

