I never understood why a vacuum isn't considered a superconductor. Surely there's nothing to resist the motion of an electron in a vacuum. Would anyone be able to explain that to me?
Claim of Superconductivity Above 0C
31–35 of 35 posts
Re: Claim of Superconductivity Above 0C
#32As a lapsed superconductivity physicist, I hate to burst the bubble. In the community there has been a long-standing joke about USOs, Unidentified Superconducting Objects, and it is well known that just because you see "Signs of Superconductivity" does not prove that something is superconducting. There are really three questions at hand: 1> Does the sample show the Meissner effect, 2> Does it show zero resistance, an…
I have no idea why you are getting upvoted. You're not bursting any bubble, you're just parading your cynicism and knowledge of a specialized field before a technical audience. The post http://www.superconductors.org/276K.htm contains a whole bunch of data which may answer your 3 points. How about you go through it, or email the author who has "released [the details] into the public domain without patent protection i…
I for one am grateful he commented on this at all.
He has professional experience in this field, and his hunches are worth a thousand completely uninformed responses such as yours.
If you want him to dig through data, email the author, and look up stuff on Wikipedia for you, then how about you pay him before indignantly demanding that he do it?
After receiving backbiting chastisements from the popcorn gallery, I wouldn't be surprised if he refrained from commenting at all next time some similar announcement in his field of expertise came up.
That would be a pity, as his expertise, insight, and any time he cares to spend explaining his field to us are certainly valued.
Re: Claim of Superconductivity Above 0C
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It has been reproduced and journallized by Sharif University in Iran. I see. Well I'll just wait for additional confirmation from the Great Leader's University of North Korea.
The chair of Electrical Engineering Department of Stanford University has announced that: "Without a doubt the finest university in the world preparing undergraduate Electrical engineers is Sharif University of Technology in Tehran" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_University_of_Technology...
That's interesting, but what does it have to do with world-class physics research?
Re: Claim of Superconductivity Above 0C
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It has been reproduced and journallized by Sharif University in Iran. I see. Well I'll just wait for additional confirmation from the Great Leader's University of North Korea.
Which large scale science project in the US had the highest number of "graduates" who went on to win nobel prizes and make gigantic contributions to science? The Manhattan Project. Which countries are currently working on their own versions of that project? Uh, North Korea and Iran. You can be DAMN sure that some of the best scientific minds outside of western main-stream are at the moment toiling away in Iran and No…
Nobel Prizes aren't awarded for brilliancy. They're ostensibly awarded for contributions to science. Since that generally involves discovering something new, it's really no surprise that members of the Manhattan Project (who were working in a previously unexplored area of physics, with gigantic resources at their command) would make some momentous discoveries.
Contrary to this, the Iranians and North Koreans aren't working on anything new (at least not under the auspices of the nuclear energy/bomb project). So don't expect many Nobel Prizes to come their way.
They're rehashing a tried and true path, with a lot of information (both in the public domain, along with probably a good deal of stolen classified material) available to them that the members of the Manhattan Project did not have.
That isn't to say that there aren't any brilliant Iranian and North Korean physicists working on the project. I'm sure they've got the cream of the crop in Iran and North Korea. But just because they're working on this doesn't make them world class physicists.
Re: Claim of Superconductivity Above 0C
#35I never understood why a vacuum isn't considered a superconductor. Surely there's nothing to resist the motion of an electron in a vacuum. Would anyone be able to explain that to me?
A vacuum isn't even a conductor, so it can't be a superconductor. Sure, the electors are unimpeded, but you have to boil them off something to get them into the vacuum. Conductors have a sea of electrons that moves very easily along the material. Which brings up a second point: once in the vacuum, the electrons travel in a straight line (except in the presence of electric fields). In a conductor, they follow the surface, which often bends.
Furthermore, a super-conductor excludes magnetic fields; vacuums do not exclude magnetic fields (otherwise Earth wouldn't have the Van Allen Belts).