On 17/10/2020 12:17, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Sat, 17 Oct 2020 02:35:38 -0700, harry wrote:

New superconductor found, works at room temperature.
Most important discovery of the decade?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02895-0

Files alongside nuclear fusion articles ...

Possibly.

But it is interesting to compare it with the history of nuclear power.
It took only 10 years from its discovery by Rutherford to the first
nuclear pile in 1942, even though, according to the Wiki
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power#Origins) in 1932
Rutherford, Bohr, and Einstein "believed harnessing the power of the
atom for practical purposes anytime in the near future was unlikely." No
doubt the war and development of an atomic bomb was a huge influence,
but it showed how even the most eminent scientists of the time were way
out when it came to predicting the future.

I suppose the real question is whether or not a practical RT
superconducting power transmission line would be cheaper than the
current ones. Is it possible to compare the differences in cost of
manufacture, use, maintenance, etc?

--

Jeff