Posted by pseudolus 1 day ago
This alone cannot be a correct statement, because the 3. Law of Thermodynamics states that you cannot reach 0 degrees Kelvin. So I think we already got some working superconductivity at room temperature by that definition.
The author clearly has not the knowledge to write over this so I stopped reading there. Also it cannot be a typo, since he even explains the corresponding degree in Celsius
No matter how slow you needed a load to turn, you could wind a motor to do it without gear reduction.
Gear trains in large scale wind turbines are a huge maintenance issue, and failure mode. With superconducting generators, they could be converted to direct drive.
The only limits are critical temperature and critical field strength.
How so? It would save a few percent in transmission losses, make various quantum sensors possible/cheaper, just maybe, levitating trains, if it's cheap enough. Unlimited energy? lol.
I did a double-take when I checked the publication. I can't believe this is in the ACM journal.
Um... No. Transmission lines is not a serious use-cases of super conductors. I believe current loss rates are in the 2-5% range. Super conductors do not provide energy in and of themselves -- though they are likely a critical component to nuclear fusion, which would.
Most (all?) modern superconductors are ceramics, so it's like having a huge stick made of the porcelain.