Today in Science History March 18th
by Greg on Mar.18, 2009, under Science Life History
In 1987, the discovery of “high-temperature” superconductivity was announced to thousands of scientists at a packed meeting of the American Physical Society in New York City. The phenomenon, discovered 1911, was at first known to occur at only 4 degrees above absolute zero, when all electrical resistance in a metal sample disappeared. In 1986, researchers discovered a ceramic material that was a superconductor at a temperature of more than 30 degrees above absolute zero. When published in September of that year, that news stirred the wider scientific community into action. By the time of the APS meeting, further discoveries had been made. The scene of excitement at the meeting was dubbed the “Woodstock of Physics.”
Why does superconductiivity matter? Well, scientists have found materials cooled to certain temps conduct electricity at ZERO resistance. That means, absolute efficiency of transmitting electrical energy. Imagine would that would mean to our energy needs if we could use all the electricity we produce, and not lose any of it to the resistance in the materials in the wires. Here is a great video of the phenomenon:
:high temperature superconductors
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Nasa's Image of the Day
Large X-class Flare Erupts on the Sun
On Jan. 27, 2012, a large X-class flare erupted from an active region near the solar west limb. X-class flares are the most powerful of all solar events. Seen here is an image of the flare captured by the X-ray telescope on Hinode. This image shows an emission from plasma heated to greater than eight million degrees during the energy release process of the flare. Image Credit: JAXA/Hinode
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