Why Superconductors Are Insanely Amazing

By Jamie Condliffe on at

Everyone always bangs on about superconductors as if they're some super-amazing scientific miracle, but where's the proof, eh? Eh? Umm, here it is: check out how they compare to plain old normal conductors, and you'll be gobsmacked.

The picture above, discovered by Redditor revnastyy shows two lengths of electric cabling taken from the LHC. The one at the top is old-style copper cabling, rated to carry 12,500 amps. The cable at the bottom, made of superconducting material, can carry the exact same current because of its insanely low electrical resistance.

Sure, it has to be cooled by liquid nitrogen, but stop being so picky. This is why superconductors are — both literally and metaphorically — cool, and why a room-temperature version is every physicist's wet dream. [Reddit]

Image by RAMA under Creative Commons license