superconductor Archives – The Green Optimistic

Superconductor Levitation, “Kinda Fun,” and Useful? [Video]

Benji Jerew — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 21:21:30 +0000

Aside from use in the LHC [Large Hadron Collider] superconductors have application in the real world. After all, no one really needs a hadron collider in their back yard, not even a little one. Thinking about the properties of superconductors, mainly two things come to mind. First, they can carry insane amounts of electricity with almost […]

The post Superconductor Levitation, “Kinda Fun,” and Useful? [Video] appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Superconductor Resistivity Reduced by New Discovery

Mila Luleva — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:38:35 +0000

An international team of researchers from Russia, Spain, Belgium, the U.K. and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has discovered groundbreaking applications of superconductivity. The study appeared in Nature Communications last week. They were able to establish how to stabilize efficiently tiny magnetic vortices, which interfere with superconductivity. This problem has been […]

The post Superconductor Resistivity Reduced by New Discovery appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Uranium-Based Material Could Lead to Better Superconductors

Benji Jerew — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:52:16 +0000

Mention uranium, and you may think of two applications right off the bat, nuclear power generation and atomic weapons. These two things may bring some problems to mind, such as nuclear meltdown, fallout, and winter. Physicists, on the other hand, don’t see things quite so dismally, and continue to experiment with uranium for more benign […]

The post Uranium-Based Material Could Lead to Better Superconductors appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Breakthrough Iron-Based Superconductors Pave the Way for Energy-Intensive Technologies

Leigh Hutchens — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 08:16:55 +0000

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists have developed an iron-based high performance superconducting wire, paving the way for some of the most energy-intensive technologies in the world. Scientists were able to grow custom materials that are able to carry very high current under very high magnetic fields, not unlike those found […]

The post Breakthrough Iron-Based Superconductors Pave the Way for Energy-Intensive Technologies appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Superconductors Could Increase Wind Turbine Efficiency

Benji Jerew — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:18:18 +0000

One of the great limitations in any electrical or electronic system is resistance. Electrical resistance, measured in “Ω” or ohms, is not a constant, but dependent on temperature. As the temperature increases, resistance also increases. When considering wind turbine generators, there are limits to the amount of electricity can be generated. The problem is that […]

The post Superconductors Could Increase Wind Turbine Efficiency appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Superconducting Generators Increase Wind Power Plant Efficiency

Leigh Hutchens — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:43:39 +0000

Experts believe that wind power will be the key in the quest for alternative energy solutions. After years of research, scientists have determined that adding superconductors to generators will increase the performance and generate 10 megawatts while also reducing the weight and size of the generator. Superconducting generators also use a fraction of the globes’ […]

The post Superconducting Generators Increase Wind Power Plant Efficiency appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Atom Cooling Leads to Greater Understanding of Superconductors

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:20:56 +0000

The processes that occur when atoms cool have long eluded scientists. However, a team of researchers at The Open University believe they have developed a method to understand more about the specifics of atom cooling and hope this may one day be used to more sophisticated superconductors. A superconductor is a material with no electrical […]

The post Atom Cooling Leads to Greater Understanding of Superconductors appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Superconducting Wire Generates and Transports Electricity, Wins Additional Funding

Mila Luleva — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 10:31:49 +0000

As part of a wind energy project, a superconducting wire that can generate and transport electricity brought to a team of engineering researchers at University of Huston, the massive $900,000 additional funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE). In addition, the project was given $ 1 million grant extension totaling up the award to […]

The post Superconducting Wire Generates and Transports Electricity, Wins Additional Funding appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Semiconductor CEOs Think Smart Grids are a Smart Idea

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 07:27:38 +0000

At the recent Electronica exhibition held in Munich, Germany, the CEO panel discussion that comprised of four bosses of the semiconductor industry focused on one essential topic – the smart grid challenge, a vision that aims to provide improvements in reliability, security, economy, efficiency, environmental impact, and safety in power distribution. STMicroelectronics’ Carlo Bozotti, NXP […]

The post Semiconductor CEOs Think Smart Grids are a Smart Idea appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Swiss High-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Could Change The Grid Forever

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:51:51 +0000

A team of researchers from EPFL’s Laboratory for Quantum Magnetism could change the way people transmit electricity and the efficiency of the process. Their study on how extremely small particles act in conjunction with magnetism may give other physicists a clue on how to build high-temperature superconductors. By creating a layer of ceramic material just […]

The post Swiss High-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Could Change The Grid Forever appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Scientists Explain Limitations of High Temperature Superconductors in High Currents

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:54:34 +0000

Since their discovery in late 1980s, superconductors were thought to revolutionize everything that had an electric current flowing, but allowing it to pass through more easily, and with much less heat produced. Ultra-efficient magnetic trains had been envisioned, then, but ...

The post Scientists Explain Limitations of High Temperature Superconductors in High Currents appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Scientists Discover Nano-Scale Superconducting Material

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:01:32 +0000

Researchers from the Bar-Ilan University in Israel, collaborating with the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the U.S. have designed superconducting thin films patterned with large arrays of nanowires and loops. The temperature at which they superconduct is pretty low and hard to get for the moment - only 30 °K (-243°C). Magnetic fields have proved themselves to change the material's electrical resistance in an unexpected manner.

The post Scientists Discover Nano-Scale Superconducting Material appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Molecular-Level Superconducting Material Discovered by Ohio Scientists

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:12:11 +0000

A sheet less than a nanometer wide and four pairs of molecules now constitutes the world's smallest superconductor and proves that superconducting nanoscale materials can be made, an obvious advance for nano-scaled electronics and energy applications.

The post Molecular-Level Superconducting Material Discovered by Ohio Scientists appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

New Research Showing Fabrication Pattern for Higher-Temperature Superconductors

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:13:43 +0000

Researchers from Princeton University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry in Japan, using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, have discovered how in a superconducting material, at a nano-scale level, regions with stronger superconductivity helped regions with weaker superconductivity survive when exposed to higher temperature.

The post New Research Showing Fabrication Pattern for Higher-Temperature Superconductors appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

New Iron-Based Material Could Be The Best High Temperature Superconductor

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:24:26 +0000

Following the dream of realizing a high-temperature superconductor, Cornell University researchers just found something about iron-based materials: they can be made to resemble electronic liquid crystals.

The post New Iron-Based Material Could Be The Best High Temperature Superconductor appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

New Discovery Sheds Light on Way to High Temperature Superconductivity

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0000

High temperature superconductors are today what some other time the philosopher's stone used to be. Research done by Gennady Logvenov and his colleagues from the Brookehaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY sheds a new light on how scientists could engineer materials to obtain their desiderate: room temperature superconductors.

The post New Discovery Sheds Light on Way to High Temperature Superconductivity appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

SuperStation: The Superconductor Energy Hub Uniting U.S. Grids

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:14:26 +0000

New Mexico may become a hub for this kind of energetic interaction, as Clovis is wanted to host the SuperStation, a hub using superconducting cables to link three networks: The Eastern Interconnection, The Western Interconnection and the Texas Interconnection. The 5GW carrying cables will be cooled down to -300°F and thus energy losses through heat will be infinitesimally close to zero.

The post SuperStation: The Superconductor Energy Hub Uniting U.S. Grids appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Researchers Make One More Step Towards Metallic Hydrogen as Superconductor

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:47:24 +0000

A team of scientists from Cornell University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook announced this week in a specialized publication that they discovered, at least theoretically, how to turn hydrogen into a metal at significantly lower pressures than ever thought and make a superconductor out of it.

The post Researchers Make One More Step Towards Metallic Hydrogen as Superconductor appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Germanium Hydride to Become High Temperature Viable Superconductor

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:10:52 +0000

The evolution of energy storage is not enough if we don't also evolve the energy transportation methods. That's why superconductors are not only good for us, but are also necessary in some applications where heat and energy loss, in general, have no place.

The post Germanium Hydride to Become High Temperature Viable Superconductor appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Room Temperature Superconductors: a Step Away

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:37:42 +0000

Imagine your television set working for 0.0001Watt, or your electric car charged by the Sun as you go. Imagine almost never ending batteries powering cool engines, no power lost through heat.

The post Room Temperature Superconductors: a Step Away appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Team Discovers what Once was Thought Impossible about Superconductors

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:03:04 +0000

A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia, coordinated by Physics Assoc. Prof. Andrea Damascelli, has managed to develop a technique that controls the number of electrons from the surface of a high temperature superconductor. This procedure has been considered impossible for the last 20 years.

The post Team Discovers what Once was Thought Impossible about Superconductors appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Superconductor Powered Toyota Shows Increased Power

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:52:16 +0000

Sumitomo has shown a prototype of a car (a Toyota - shown in picture) that uses special type of engine, a liquid-nitrogen cooled one. The use of liquid nitrogen makes usual copper conductors have superconducting properties.

The post Superconductor Powered Toyota Shows Increased Power appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

New Iron-based Superconductors Have Green Gains

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:58:57 +0000

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has discovered a new type of iron-based superconductor that shares the same magnetic properties with the older copper-oxide superconductors. The amazing fact is that the new superconductors have all those magnetic properties at higher temperatures.

The post New Iron-based Superconductors Have Green Gains appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

How to Make a Superconductor at Home

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:34:23 +0000

Superconductors are known as the holy grail of energy transmission, energy storage and even computing. You can make one yourself if you possess a bit of will, knowledge and the following: Equipment To make an yttrium-barium-copper-oxide superconductor, you will need: * Yttrium Oxide * Barium Carbonate (TOXIC) * Cupric Oxide * A Laboratory Furnace or […]

The post How to Make a Superconductor at Home appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

What Is a SuperConductor?

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:33:37 +0000

Superconductors are the next viable step in energy savings worldwide. They are being used to carry energy in Sweden, USA, Japan, and the list extends pretty fast to other countries.

The post What Is a SuperConductor? appeared first on The Green Optimistic.