1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: are you. It's time for a tech Stuff Tidbits episode. 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: But this one's about a pretty complicated topic. And y'all, 6 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: we could be at the beginning of a transformational moment 7 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: within technology, one that potentially could lead to truly incredible results. 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: Or it's possible we could just be waiting to find 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,200 Speaker 1: out that a promising experiment isn't really what we thought 10 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: it was. And this all centers around super conductivity. Now, 11 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: to understand super conductivity, we first have to talk about 12 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: just plain old conductivity the Clark Kent super Conductivity's cal 13 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,959 Speaker 1: l and we're specifically talking about electrical conductivity rather than 14 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: thermal conductctivity for this episode. So we say a material 15 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: is conductive if it is well suited to allow an 16 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: electric charge to pass through it. Materials that resist electrical 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: charges passing through them are insulators. In Between conductors and insulators, 18 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: you've got your semiconductors, which can behave like a conductor 19 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: under certain conditions and like a resistor under others. So 20 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: a good conductor will allow electric charge through pretty easily, 21 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: but some of that energy in that electrical charge will 22 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: end up converting into heat and you lose that. This 23 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: is because even good conductors like copper still have some 24 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: electrical resistance. You can actually affect the amount of electrical 25 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: resistance by changing the physical properties of the copper itself. 26 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: For example, a very thin copper wire will have higher 27 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: electrical resistance than a thick copper cable. It's made out 28 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: of the same stuff, but the actual physical properties change things, 29 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: but it still will have electrical resistance either way. And 30 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: some of our appliances, like say toasters, they rely on 31 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: electrical resistance. We purposefully build them so that they have 32 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: these metal coils inside that heat up as we pass 33 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: an electrical current through them, and that ends up toasting 34 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: your bread. The electrical resistance causes some of the charge 35 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: to convert into heat, so then you can toast your 36 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: toast and make your belts or whatever. Resistance means that 37 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,959 Speaker 1: it is impossible for us to build a perfectly efficient 38 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: electrical system under what I would call normal circumstances, like 39 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: every day type circumstances and very very specific circumstances, we 40 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: can achieve it, but it is a lot of work 41 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: and we'll get there. But under normal circumstances, we're always 42 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: going to lose some energy due to electrical resistance. You know, 43 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: it's going to boil off heat. And this is why 44 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: lead gamers out there have to invest in really effective 45 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 1: cooling systems for their gaming rigs. Sometimes they get those 46 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: like crazy water cooling systems. The over clockers out there 47 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: might even play with like liquid nitrogen for usually an 48 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: exhibition type thing. It's not something they would do for 49 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: every day, but yeah, they have to deal with that 50 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: because their gaming rigs have countless circuits in them. Like 51 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: when you think of a CPU or a GPU, you know, 52 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: central processing unit or graphics processing unit. Essentially those are 53 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: chips with just millions or billions of little circuits in them, 54 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: and if you don't take the heat away from those circuits, 55 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: then it's going to overheat and stuff is going to 56 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: wear out, it's going to go wrong, it's gonna shut down. 57 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: So you have to have a way to manage the 58 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: heat in the system. And that's why you've got these 59 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: these great cooling systems and these gaming rigs and other 60 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: types of computers. So under normal circumstances, an electrical can 61 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: we'll serve as a pathway for electricity. But you aren't 62 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: going to get the same amount of electricity out as 63 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: you put into it. There's always going to be less 64 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: electricity coming out the other side because of the fact 65 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: you lose some of it due to heat. Unless and 66 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:17,840 Speaker 1: this is where we have to go back in time. 67 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: In fact, I don't think we've used the tech stuff 68 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: time machine in a few years. Looks like I still 69 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: got it over there in the corner. It's holding one 70 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: of my guitars. Let me just just move that up. 71 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: Oh it's okay, right there, we go and get in 72 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: and all right, let's set the dial to nineteen eleven. 73 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: Here we go. Okay, we're in nineteen eleven, and here 74 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: we see a Dutch physicist. His name is Oh no, okay, 75 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: I'm going to get this totally wrong. Just saying it 76 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: right up front, I cannot pronounce Dutch names, but I'm 77 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: going to give it a try. Just know that this 78 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: is not the right pronunciation, and I understand, and I 79 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: know it's terrible. You don't have to tell me anyway. 80 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 1: Haika common link on us and he's leading a research 81 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: team and they're studying the effects of very very cold 82 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: temperatures on electrical conductivity, I mean, like exceedingly cold temperatures. 83 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: So his team is currently cooling a sample of mercury 84 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: to minus two sixty nine degrees celsius. That's four point 85 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: two kelvin, so we're not that much higher than absolute zero, 86 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: like the temperature of deep space. And his team is 87 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: now observing that at this temperature, mercury's resistance drops to zero. 88 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: It no longer has electrical resistance. It has become a 89 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: perfectly efficient conductor for electricity, a superconductor. And it turns 90 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: out that below a specific critical temperature, and that temperature 91 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: depends upon the material that we're using at the time, 92 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,720 Speaker 1: the conductor will go through a fundamental change that means 93 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 1: they no longer offer resistance to electrical charges. Why, well, 94 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: that's a darn good question to answer that. Let's get 95 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: back to present day. All right, everyone back in the 96 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: time machine. Here we go. Oh it's hotter than I remember. Okay, Well, 97 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: now here we are. So our understanding of physics at 98 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: the time of this discovery of superconductivity had no explanation 99 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: as to why this would happen, or how it happens, 100 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,799 Speaker 1: or in fact, even what was happening on a granular level. 101 00:06:56,839 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: I mean, we knew that resistance was dropping to zero, 102 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: but he didn't know what was happening to cause that. 103 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: Even quantum theory shrugged and said, beats me, daddy, Oh, 104 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: I got no idea. It would actually take a few 105 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: decades before some researchers proposed a hypothesis regarding what was 106 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: going on. And well, their hypothesis, while good, doesn't cover everything, 107 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: but anyway, between nineteen eleven and nineteen fifty seven. Nineteen 108 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: fifty seven is when we would get that hypothesis. There 109 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: was another discovery relating to superconductivity that was really neat. 110 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: Two German scientists, Walter Meisner and Robert Oxenfeld found that 111 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: when a conductor was cooled to that superconductor state, when 112 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: it dropped below its critical temperature, it would also expel 113 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: magnetic fields. So we've talked a lot about electromagnetism in 114 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: this podcast. Right, If you pass a conductive material through 115 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: a magnetic field, the magnetic field induces current to flow 116 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: through the conductor. What allows us to make things like 117 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: electrical transformers. In alternating current transmission. We also know that 118 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: an electric charge moving through a conductor generates a magnetic field. 119 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure everyone out there has done some 120 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: version of the physics experiment where you take copper wire 121 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: and you wind it around an iron nail, and you 122 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: connect the wire to a battery, and now you've got 123 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: yourself an electromagnet. So there's this beautiful relationship between electricity 124 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: and magnetism that we've been studying for more than a 125 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: century now. Well, with superconductors, Meisner and Oxenfeld observed that 126 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: nearly all internal magnetic fields that should be passing through 127 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: the superconductor material were zeroed out. They didn't exist. The 128 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: exterior magnetic field intensified. So it turns out that the 129 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: magnetic fields that normally would be able to pass through 130 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: the superconductor material were now being expelled. They were passing 131 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: around it as if the superconductor had some kind of 132 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: force field against magnetic fields being able to penetrate it. 133 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: Similar to how electricity can't get out of a superconductor, 134 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't boil off in the form of heat, 135 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: magnetic fields can't get into a superconductor under normal conditions. 136 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: We'll actually talk a bit about the limitations of that 137 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: in just a moment. Now, one super interesting thing about 138 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: the so called Meisner effect. Now some folks will actually 139 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: include Oxenfeld and call it the Meisner Oxenfeld effect, But 140 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: more often than not, I just see the Meisner effect, 141 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,319 Speaker 1: which is, you know, just shows that you really want 142 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: that top billing. Anyway, One really interesting thing happens when 143 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: you bring a permanent magnet near a superconductor that then 144 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: is brought to below its critical temperature. So normally the 145 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: magnetic fields that are emitted by the permanent magnet would 146 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: also then pass through the superconductor once the magnet's close enough. So, 147 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: if you have a superconductor of material but you haven't 148 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: cooled it below its critical temperature, it's not acting as 149 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: a superconductor yet. You could put a physical magnet right 150 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,479 Speaker 1: on top of that. Then, if you cool the superconductor 151 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: material so that it does go below its critical temperature, 152 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,239 Speaker 1: it starts to expel magnetic fields. Well, the permanent magnet 153 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: is generating a magnetic field that otherwise would be passing 154 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: through the superconductor. Since the superconnector is expelling the magnetic fields, 155 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: it pushes against the permanent magnet, and the permanent magnet 156 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: will levitate and appear to really lock in place above 157 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: the superconductive material. You could also lay this out so 158 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: that you had say, electromagnetic track on the underside of 159 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: a table and take a puck of superconductor material that's 160 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: cooled below its critical temperature and lock it in place 161 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: below the electro magnet. That's possible too, I've seen that. 162 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: But it looks really cool because it looks like it's 163 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: just magically hanging there in the air, and you can 164 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: change its orientation and it will maintain that orientation above 165 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: the superconductor material. Now there's a lot that's going on here. 166 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:15,439 Speaker 1: It's not just like magic. In fact, it's not magic 167 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 1: at all. But the explanation gets really tricky. There's like 168 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: kind of like little currents, like a little eddy within 169 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: the superconductor that's effectively creating a magnetic field that matches 170 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: but repels the permanent magnets field. No matter what orientation 171 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,320 Speaker 1: you put it in. You change the orientation of the magnet, 172 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:36,439 Speaker 1: the little eddies, which are really little currents of electrons 173 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: in the superconductor material change and then it continues to 174 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: repel the magnet perfectly. This, to get more specific, would 175 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: get into quantum mechanics, and I would just goof that 176 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: up if I were to attempt to explain it, because 177 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: it is well beyond my understanding. So I will say 178 00:11:54,960 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: that if you haven't watched any videos of magnets interacting 179 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: with superconductors or vice versa, you should really check that out. 180 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: There are a ton of them on YouTube. They are 181 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: really fascinating to watch. It looks at first like you're 182 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 1: watching some sort of camera trickery because the materials are 183 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: behaving in a way that's counterintuitive. We don't see stuff 184 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: like that in our day to day lives. It's really interesting. 185 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,079 Speaker 1: And the fact that you can position the magnet in 186 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: different orientations with regard to the superconductor and it will 187 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: just stay in that position relative to the superconductor as 188 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: if it's locked in space. It's really remarkable. Okay, we're 189 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: going to take a quick break. When we come back, 190 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about that hypothesis I alluded to 191 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: earlier and how it attempted to explain what was going on. 192 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: But first, let's thank our sponsors. All Right, we're back, 193 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: and now we're getting up to the nineteen fifties and 194 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: a trio of American scientists John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and 195 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: John Shreefer proposed a microscopic theory of super conductivity, and 196 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: it became known as the BCS theory. It took the 197 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: first letter off of each scientist's last name. The theory 198 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: has to do with electron pairs and crystalline lattices within 199 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: the superconductor and these vibrations called phonons. And I can't 200 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:31,720 Speaker 1: really pretend to fully understand it, or even partly understand it, 201 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: but it does a good job of describing what's happening 202 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:43,599 Speaker 1: for super cooled superconductive materials. However, this particular hypothesis or 203 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: theory did not explain how this would work with superconductors 204 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: that could operate at so called high temperatures, you know, 205 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,560 Speaker 1: beyond a threshold. This theory doesn't really apply. And the 206 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: problem is we were observing effects that went beyond the 207 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: parameters this theory would cover. Now, when I say high temperature, 208 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: I'm not actually talking about anything that you or I 209 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: would consider a high temperature. In fact, it's quite the contrary. 210 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: We're still talking temperatures that can get down to as 211 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: low as almost minus two hundred degrees celsius. To date, 212 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: I want to say that the hottest superconductor that ever 213 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: operated is still like around minus twenty five celsius something 214 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: like that, and even then it's under intense pressure. We'll 215 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: talk about pressure too, so you know, we're really talking 216 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: about very, very very cold temperatures. Even with the so 217 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: called high temperature superconductors, it's just that they're much higher 218 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: than say minus two hundred and sixty nine celsius. Until 219 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: very recently, all claims of finding material that displays super 220 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: conductivity at temperatures that we would even remotely consider comfortable 221 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: have all fallen through. Right Like, scientists would submit a 222 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: paper suggesting that they had made a breakthrough and found 223 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: such a material, and then later retract those papers, discovering that, 224 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: in fact, there was some sort of mistake along the 225 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: way and they were not correct, and so they had to, 226 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: you know, take it back. Now. Interestingly, two factors can 227 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: potentially destroy the superconductor's state, and one we've already mentioned 228 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: is temperature. Right if the temperature goes above the critical 229 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: temperature for superconductors, then the material loses superconductivity. They will 230 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: again have electrical resistance, it will no longer expel magnetic fields. 231 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: But the other factor that can disrupt the superconductor state 232 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: would be a sufficiently powerful magnetic field. I mentioned, like 233 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: a regular permanent magnet on top of a superconductor. You'll 234 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: see the permanent magnet levitate. Well, if that permanent magnet 235 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: was super strong, like it really had very strong magnetic fields, 236 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: then that could be more than what the force field 237 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: the superconductor generates can handle. And the magnetic fields will 238 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: pierce through the superconductor, and for one subset of superconductors, 239 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: that's enough for it to completely lose superconductivity. Under those conditions. 240 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: Take the magnet away and you keep it at its 241 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: critical temperature, it goes back to being a superconductor. But 242 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: in the presence of powerful enough magnetic fields that can 243 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: overpower the superconductive material and it just becomes a regular 244 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: conductor again. Now, as I mentioned, there are magnets that 245 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: can do that and will disrupt superconductors, but there are 246 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: other types of superconductors they can actually kind of roll 247 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: with the punches a little bit. So in this regard, 248 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: there are two broad classifications that we can talk about 249 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 1: with superconductors. There's type one. This is the type that 250 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: will lose superconductivity in the presence of a strong applied 251 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: magnetic field. Then you have type two superconductors. These will 252 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: actually continue to operate as a superconductor even in the 253 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: presence of a strong applied magnetic field. It's just that 254 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: at the points where the strong magnetic field intersects with 255 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:32,200 Speaker 1: the superconductor, you get non superconducting material. So like within 256 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: the same mass, just imagine you've got a big old 257 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: puck of the superconductor material, and you've got this strong 258 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:44,680 Speaker 1: applied magnetic field that intersects with a superconductor material at 259 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,879 Speaker 1: that local point where there's that intersection, that would no 260 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,919 Speaker 1: longer be performing like a superconductor. But other areas of 261 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,119 Speaker 1: the puck that are not intersecting with this magnetic field 262 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: continue to act like a superconnector. This is a type 263 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: to superconductor material. This is why we're able to use 264 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 1: superconductors in labs that involve really powerful magnets. So, for example, 265 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: the large hadron collider particle accelerators, they need really really 266 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: strong magnets in order to drive those sub atomic particles 267 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: at speeds that are close to the speed of light, 268 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: but they also need superconductors. In order to do that, 269 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: and if there were no type two superconductor material out there, 270 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 1: it wouldn't work because the magnets would end up shutting 271 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: down the superconductors. They would just become regular conductors. You 272 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: would lose too much energy in the form of heat, 273 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: and the whole operation wouldn't work. So fortunately, there are 274 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: these type two superconductors out there that can kind of 275 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: localize where the disruption happens and the rest of the 276 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: material can still perform as a superconductor. It's pretty mind blowing. Now, 277 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: there are some big drawbacks with superconductors, as I have 278 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,639 Speaker 1: describe them. I mean, you've got to super cool the stuff, 279 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: which means making use of materials of like liquid nitrogen 280 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 1: or liquid hydrogen, which is really expensive. It's dangerous. I mean, 281 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 1: this material is so cold that it will cause incredible 282 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: damage if you were to come into contact with it 283 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: for any you know, sufficient length of time. And it's 284 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,400 Speaker 1: really hard to use this stuff like it's it's got 285 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: a huge barrier to being able to do it, which 286 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: means that our applications for superconductors are by necessity really limited. 287 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,000 Speaker 1: They have to be limited to just the stuff that 288 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: really needs the superconductors to work and are like huge 289 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: like moonshot level experiments and scientific research stuff like particle accelerators, 290 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:57,159 Speaker 1: Like that's such a huge undertaking that using superconnectors as 291 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,639 Speaker 1: part of the whole process. But you can't use superconductors 292 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 1: to do more mundane stuff because it's way too expensive 293 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: and complicated to make it practical. It just it doesn't work. Now, 294 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: you can actually adjust that critical temperature I was talking about, 295 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:18,680 Speaker 1: You can actually make that higher so that you can 296 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: operate at higher temperatures and still have super conductivity, But 297 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: only if you're increasing the pressure that's on the system. 298 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: So it has to be in a pressurized chamber. Right. 299 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: This is why like the hottest superconductor can operate at 300 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,400 Speaker 1: you know, minus twenty five degrees or whatever it might be. 301 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 1: It's because it's inside a system that has incredible pressure 302 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: applied to it. So again you're even as you remove 303 00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:55,399 Speaker 1: the need to super cool it to like really really 304 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: cold temperatures, you increase the need to have to create 305 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: these incredible pressure chambers. So it's a trade off, right, 306 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: Like you're having to trade one difficult set of circumstances 307 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: for another, and it still makes it very expensive and 308 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: dangerous and complicated. Now, if we could make a superconductive 309 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: material that performs as a superconductor, but does so at 310 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: room temperature and at you know, ambient air pressure, that 311 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:30,440 Speaker 1: would change the world. When we come back, I'll explain 312 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: how it would change the world and why some people 313 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: think we might already be there. Okay, we're back. I 314 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: had mentioned that if we could make superconductive material that 315 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: performs at room temperature ambient air pressure, it would really 316 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: change everything. Well, it's pretty easy to imagine, right. Let's 317 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: just take the really mundane example of that gaming pc 318 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: I talked about earlier. Imagine you've got this crazy tricked 319 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: out gaming pc. It's got the latest processors in it. 320 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: It's incredibly powerful, but all the circuits are made out 321 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,199 Speaker 1: of a material that's a superconductor, which means there's no 322 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: heat being generated. It's not losing any electricity due to heat. 323 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: This means a couple of really big things. One, we 324 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: don't need any of those cooling systems anymore. There's no 325 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: heat being generated, so there's no heat to take away. 326 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: You don't need water cooling or even fans because you're 327 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: not losing any energy due to heat. So a big 328 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: old chonker of a gaming PC would run silently. There'd 329 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: be no moving parts. You would just have these incredible 330 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: circuits made out of the superconductor material that can operate 331 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: at room temperature. But also, we wouldn't need as much 332 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: power to run our PC because none of our power 333 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: is being lost in the form of heart. It's perfectly efficient. 334 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: You would be able to achieve that level of performance 335 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: with less power because you don't have to factor in 336 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 1: power loss at all. Perfect transmission of electricity would be 337 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,239 Speaker 1: a possibility, And that's interesting for a PC like you 338 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: just suddenly think like, oh, I wouldn't need as big 339 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: of a power supply, and I would mean a lower 340 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: electricity bill. But let's expand that. Think about that for 341 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: the purposes of actual electricity transmission from power plant to destination. 342 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: What if all the power lines were made of the 343 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:38,640 Speaker 1: superconductive material. Now we would be able to transmit electricity 344 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: with no loss. You would have incredible efficiency. It would 345 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: mean that we wouldn't need to produce as much electricity 346 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:51,360 Speaker 1: at least to meet our current demand. So if we 347 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: were to assume that everyone was using exactly the same 348 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: amount of electricity on the end of it as they 349 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: are right now, then the amount of electricity we would 350 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: need to produce would be much lower because we wouldn't 351 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: lose anything in the process. We would end up having 352 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: a smaller demand on our power generation. That being said, 353 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 1: between me and you, that's never how it works out. 354 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,879 Speaker 1: If our ability to produce electricity exceeds whatever the current 355 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: demand is, we just typically see a demand rise in response. Right. 356 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: It's not that, oh, now we're producing more electricity than 357 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: we need. It's oh, now we can use more electricity, 358 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: so now we need more. That's how it typically goes. 359 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: But it's still a nice thought, right, this idea of 360 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 1: perfectly efficient transmitters, that would be amazing, And these efficient 361 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: electrical systems would mean other stuff too, like batteries would 362 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,879 Speaker 1: last longer, right because again you don't lose any energy 363 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 1: in the form of heat. More efficient systems means longer 364 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 1: battery life even without an effective change to the batteries 365 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: themselve levels. The improvement in the circuitry would be in 366 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 1: the batteries would last longer. They wouldn't be having to 367 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: deplete so quickly, which means things like electric vehicles would 368 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:13,879 Speaker 1: see a boost and how far they could travel on 369 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: a single charge. Again, not because the battery technology has improved, 370 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 1: but because we're using the superconductive material for the circuitry 371 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,440 Speaker 1: within the electric vehicle. On the flip side, let's say 372 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 1: it's in you know, consumer phones. Your phone would not 373 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,199 Speaker 1: have to recharge nearly as frequently. You would be able 374 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: to hold a charge much longer because again increased efficiency. 375 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 1: It's actually really hard to express how big a deal 376 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: this would be. I mean, it affects everything from environmental issues, 377 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: to financial issues, to you know, all sorts of stuff. 378 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: And I haven't even touched on what it would mean 379 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: for science, like being able to have a room temperature 380 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: operating superconductor and suddenly make things like particle accelerators orders 381 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:08,359 Speaker 1: of magnitude easier to build. They would still be really complicated, 382 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong. It's not like it would suddenly 383 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: become something we could all make in our backyards. But 384 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: it would be way easier than the systems that were 385 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 1: needed to create the large Hadron collider, which means increasing 386 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: accessibility to that kind of science, which means being able 387 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: to learn a lot more about our universe. Like these 388 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: are the sort of big, big picture things that would 389 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: be possible with an actual working room temperature superconductive material. 390 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:45,880 Speaker 1: But all of those possibilities depend upon a whole bunch 391 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: of stuff that we just aren't sure about yet. And 392 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: the reason I'm talking about this at all, and you 393 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: know I mentioned this in a news episode, but maybe 394 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: you've heard about it otherwise, is that some researchers in 395 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: South Korea reveal that a material they made in a lab, 396 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: which they call LK ninety nine, appears to be super 397 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:10,440 Speaker 1: conductive at temperatures as warm as one hundred and twenty 398 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:16,160 Speaker 1: seven degrees celsius. That's two hundred and sixty nine degrees fahrenheit. 399 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,640 Speaker 1: So that means that at any temperature below those, this 400 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,640 Speaker 1: material would be beneath its critical temperature and would operate 401 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 1: as a superconductor. So two hundred and sixty nine degrees fahrenheit, y'all, 402 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 1: it is hot outside, but it's not that hot. It 403 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 1: would mean that we could make power lines out of 404 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: this stuff, and if in fact it works as a superconductor, 405 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:43,120 Speaker 1: we could have a future with perfect transmission of electricity. 406 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: If so LK ninety nine consists of appetite lead and 407 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,920 Speaker 1: small amounts of copper, and the researchers from South Korea 408 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:58,119 Speaker 1: who developed this material actually laid out the process for 409 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,680 Speaker 1: baking it like they explained the process they did for 410 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: creating this material. In turn, that has led to a 411 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:10,679 Speaker 1: ton of people, including some DIY scientists, to try and 412 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: make this stuff for themselves and to test it out. 413 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: Now beyond the question of is this actually performing as 414 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:23,440 Speaker 1: a superconductor, which is an open question right it's as 415 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:29,159 Speaker 1: I record this, it has not been verified by experimentation, 416 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,919 Speaker 1: there are other questions that remain. So let's assume, just 417 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,159 Speaker 1: for the argument's sake, that yes, it does act as 418 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: a superconductor for whatever reason, which is again just an 419 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: example for this thought experiment. We would have other questions 420 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 1: we would have to ask, like is it hard to synthesize? 421 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: Is it easy? Is it easy to create in the 422 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: specific way so that it does perform as a superconductor? 423 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,360 Speaker 1: Or was that something of a happy accident that will 424 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: be very hard to replicate if it is replicable, is 425 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: it something that could be mass produced? If it could 426 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 1: be mass produced, would it actually be suitable for things 427 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: like power lines or is its composition such that it 428 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: wouldn't really work in that it wouldn't be a good replacement. 429 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: What conditions will it act as a superconductor if it 430 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 1: encounters a powerful magnetic field, is it like a type 431 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,479 Speaker 1: one superconductor material? And does it just stop performing as 432 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: a superconductor until that magnetic field is removed. We need 433 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: to know these answers now. There have been a couple 434 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: of labs that have reported that, based on computer simulations 435 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: they have run, the material does appear to have superconductive properties. This, 436 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: by the way, is not something that labs across the 437 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: board have all agreed on, but some, including a couple 438 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 1: of prominent ones, have said that they've run the simulations 439 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: and at least on a simulation level, it seems to 440 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: work out all right. But these are just simulations. They 441 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: are not actual practical experiments with real material. It's all 442 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: computers running numbers essentially. So skeptics are not satisfied just yet. 443 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 1: And I think that's a wise thing to be. I 444 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,800 Speaker 1: think it is wise to be skeptical. I think it 445 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:20,480 Speaker 1: could be optimistic, but keep some skepticism, or if you prefer, 446 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: employ some critical thinking. I really want to believe these 447 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: researchers have created a material that can work as a 448 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: superconnector under room temperature conditions because of all the reasons 449 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: we've talked about and more. But we also have to 450 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: remind ourselves that very earnest scientists thought they had done 451 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: similar things in the past, only to later find out 452 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: that's not actually what was going on. So we need 453 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 1: to prepare ourselves for this potentially being another example of 454 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: an interesting, exciting experiment that ultimately fails to measure up 455 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: to what was initially hoped. Maybe other labs will replicate 456 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: LK ninety nine, maybe they will test it and see 457 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: that it truly does perform as a superconductor under room 458 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: temperatures and room air pressure. And if that's the case, 459 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: we will have a truly technological revolution ahead of us. 460 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 1: Even if we can't use it for everything, the things 461 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: we can use it for it will be transformative. However, 462 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: that has not yet happened as I record and published 463 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: this episode, And maybe we find out that, in fact, 464 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: it's not a superconductor after all. Maybe there's some interesting things, 465 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: Maybe there's some you know, regular magnetic material that's in 466 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: there that's creating some interesting effects. We'll have to wait 467 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: and see. So my advice to you, as always is 468 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: try to use critical thinking don't you know, you don't 469 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: need to outright deny that it's a possibility unless there's 470 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: like people who can show definitively that no, there's no 471 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: way based upon our understanding of physics that this works, 472 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,600 Speaker 1: show that we have something fundamentally wrong with our understanding 473 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: of physics, but that in turn would be truly huge. 474 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:10,080 Speaker 1: But yeah, use critical thinking, but reserve some of that 475 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: excitement just in case, as is possibly likely, it doesn't 476 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 1: pan out. I hope it pans out. It would be 477 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,840 Speaker 1: truly incredible, and there are a lot of interesting debates 478 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: going on in the scientific world about whether or not 479 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: it's feasible, and I honestly don't know enough to be 480 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: able to weigh in myself. I just want to be 481 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 1: skeptical a little bit, but hopeful. That's kind of my approach. 482 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: Speaking of hopeful, I hope you are all well, and 483 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is 484 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 485 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 486 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: favorite shows.