
Navy files for patent on room-temperature superconductor - klhugo
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-navy-patent-room-temperature-superconductor.html
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eganist
Fascinating. I'd put a bit more faith in this one on the grounds that 1) the
Navy probably wouldn't waste legal cycles on filling this one if it hadn't
been reduced to practice, and 2) there looks like there's still energy lost to
heat, if I'm reading correctly:

> An electromagnetic coil is circumferentially positioned around the coating
> such that when the coil is activated with a pulsed current, a non-linear
> vibration is induced, enabling room temperature superconductivity.

I'm presuming there's still energy loss taking place with the coil that wraps
the wire. So it seems you enable superconductivity and some of its associated
benefits but you're still going to have some energy loss since it's... for
lack of a better term, an active superconductor rather than a passive one.

I wonder if the heat output of the coil is drastically reduced compared to the
heat you'd get from electrifying e.g. the sort of cable this seeks to replace?

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whatshisface
> _the Navy probably wouldn 't waste legal cycles on filling this one if it
> hadn't been reduced to practice_

I'm not so sure I share your prior that the Navy works carefully to avoid
doing anything wasteful of manpower.

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johannesbeil
Yes, plus they might just have some data that looks that it might somehow work
and they just wanted to slap a patent on it in case it ever works.

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baybal2
Anonymous experts from Slashdot have found out that the filer has a fabulous
history of patent filings for perpetual motion engines.

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tschwimmer
link?

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ac29
[https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/02/if-these-us-navy-
paten...](https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/02/if-these-us-navy-patents-are-
made-then-we-are-in-a-star-trek-technology-world.html)

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williamscales
I'll believe it when I see the data.

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rogerb
No

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henrikschroder
Betteridge's law probably applies.

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diggan
Actual title of the article is "Navy files for patent on room-temperature
superconductor"

Hopefully dang or some other mod can fix the title

~~~
dang
Yes. Submitted title was "Did a US Navy Scientist Just Invent a Room-
Temperature Superconductor?".

Submitters: the site guidelines ask, "Please use the original title, unless it
is misleading or linkbait".

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

