Superconductivity: 100+ Years in the Making

University of Rochester researchers have created a superconducting material at both a temperature and pressure low enough for practical applications; scientists have been pursuing this for more than a century. It could lead to, among others, applications such as frictionless, levitating high-speed trains; faster, more efficient electronics for digital logic and memory device technology; and power grids that transmit electricity sans the loss of the current up to 200 million MWh of energy.

“With this material, the dawn of ambient superconductivity and applied technologies has arrived,” according to a team led by Ranga Dias , an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and of physics.