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Article: Superduperconductivity; Solid-state physics; A room-temperature superconductor?(Science and Technology)(Rumours are circulating of a superconductor that works at room temperature)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- March 17, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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LIKE spring, superconductivity is suddenly in the air. New types of superconductors-materials that transport electric current without loss of energy-seem to be popping up everywhere. In Japan, a compound of magnesium and boron that has been lying around on chemists' shelves for decades turns out to be a superconductor with practical potential. In America, plastics have been made superconducting by integrating them into a transistor. And from Croatia comes a tantalising tale of one that works at room temperature.
The problem with most superconductors discovered so far is that they only do their stuff below 240 C. In the 1980s, however, "high temperature" ...