Word: superconductors
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Another strange property of superconductors makes them ideal for use in computers; when they are placed in a magnetic field, their electrical resistance reappears. Thus by alternately applying and withdrawing a magnetic field, scientists can turn a superconductor into an on-off switching device many times faster (and many times smaller) than the solid-state semiconductors now used computers. With cryogenic techniques, a closet-size computer could fit in a shoe box. Cryogenics will also make possible such esoteric devices as loss-free superconductive motors with rotors that float in liquid helium, and superconductive gyroscopes that float in frictionless magnetic...
...electrons, Schwettman, Physicist William Fairbank and their associates lined the inner walls of their 5-ft. prototype with lead and surrounded the tube with an aluminum cylinder containing liquid helium cooled to -457° F.-about two degrees above absolute zero. At this temperature, the lead lining becomes a superconductor, losing practically afl of its heat-causing electrical resistance and allowing the continuous flow of high-energy electrons without overheating...
Mercurial Change. To build so perfect a gyroscope, Stanford Physicists William Fairbank and Francis Everitt will use a sphere of quartz coated with niobium, a metal that becomes a superconductor and shows no resistance to electric current when cooled to extremely low temperatures. The sphere will be placed inside an evacuated quartz shell, also coated with niobium, and suspended in an electrostatic field. Suspending it in this manner will allow it to spin in a near-perfect vacuum without touching anything; it will be free from all friction. The gyroscope container will be kept in a bath of liquid helium...
...road leading to it. After all, that is the part that interests us most. . . . We need something better than leather, and a raincoat that lets body moisture out. We need road surfaces that will last at least a century and roofs that will never leak. We need a superconductor for electricity. We need artificial teeth that are as good as natural, . . . paper as permanent as parchment, fabrics and dyes that wind and sun cannot touch, a spring metal that will not fail with fatigue and rubber that will last a century. We need a satisfactory anesthetic for childbirth...