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0 pointsfnands2y ago0 comments

There is a reason why room temperature (ambient pressure) superconductors have been one of the holy grails of physics for such a long time: the implications are profound.

I used to be a particle physicist, and some of the more complex systems were just those used to cool the superconducting magnets down to cold enough that they become superconducting. If you can do that at ambient temp, you don't have to bother with that entire system.

Also: fusion reactors rely on superconducting magnets (or if you are JET live with the fact that you can only run your magnets for a few seconds before the overheat), so can have a large impact on future fusion reactors.

0 comments

jacquesm2y ago

There would be some massive deprecation at the CERN and ITER sites.

regularfry2y ago

You've got me wondering how much cheaper ITER actually gets if you don't need the magnets to be cryogenic.

fennecfoxy2y ago

I'm already rooting for CFS' Sparc over ITER anyway. ITER is too big & expensive, if Sparc works it's an indication that we can build fusion "on a budget", too.

Idt CFS will care because they've already sourced much of the HTS tape that they need and their schedule doesn't permit waiting for LK-99 to be proven/disproven and all the years it will take to produce LK-99 in bulk anyway.

It's so insanely cheaper, because not only do you not need the cryogenic cooling (and all the support and maintenance systems and consumables like helium or nitrogen or whatever), but LK-99 is made from relatively common elements versus rare earth elements.

I really, really hope this stuff works.

jamiek882y ago

What about colliders too?

Imagine large hadron collider without cooling!

We could have the unimaginably huge hadron collider!

jacquesm2y ago

What I wonder if the cooling requirement drops how much easier it is to get to break-even.

dclowd99012y ago

Completely unrelated, but how does one un-become a particle physicist?

metaltyphoon2y ago

git reset —-hard

lesona2y ago

git archive --format=tar HEAD

I like the idea that some of us will live long enough to not be defined by our jobs.

fnandsOP2y ago

Well, I don't do particle physics as my day-job anymore, so basically that.

codethief2y ago

You switch fields or leave physics entirely.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsfnands2y ago0 comments

There is a reason why room temperature (ambient pressure) superconductors have been one of the holy grails of physics for such a long time: the implications are profound.

0 comments

jacquesm2y ago

There would be some massive deprecation at the CERN and ITER sites.

regularfry2y ago

You've got me wondering how much cheaper ITER actually gets if you don't need the magnets to be cryogenic.

fennecfoxy2y ago

I'm already rooting for CFS' Sparc over ITER anyway. ITER is too big & expensive, if Sparc works it's an indication that we can build fusion "on a budget", too.

I really, really hope this stuff works.

jamiek882y ago

What about colliders too?

Imagine large hadron collider without cooling!

We could have the unimaginably huge hadron collider!

jacquesm2y ago

What I wonder if the cooling requirement drops how much easier it is to get to break-even.

dclowd99012y ago

Completely unrelated, but how does one un-become a particle physicist?

metaltyphoon2y ago

git reset —-hard

lesona2y ago