Quantum Wires

Silverlancer writes "Room temperature superconductors have often been a hallmark of far-future science fiction. But fortunately for us, they're here today, according to MIT's Technology Review. Richard Smalley, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the buckyball, is currently heading a project to produce a prototype carbon nanotube superconductor. They've already produced some wires up to 100 meters long--the only thing left to do is figure out how to produce only a certain type of nanotube, the "5,5 armchair nanotube," that conducts so well that it can be considered a superconductor."

Comments

Re:Some hurdles

[double-oh three]

Which is in TFA. Then again, this is slashdot, so no one else read the article either.

Re:Well, I for one...

[tomhudson]

To continue the theme:

1. Stretch nano-wire across asshole's doorway at neck level;
2. Ass-hole walks through doorway, nanowire severs head from body;
3. PROFIT!!!

... and NO missing steps.

Not that dobious

[Spy der Mann]

We might call them "quasi-superconductors". See, the difference between carbon nanotubes and common conductors is their crystaline structure that makes electrons travel in 1-D, as opposed to 3-D in common conductors. This nullifies heat dissipation, because, if there's no friction between the electrons, there's no energy loss.

And think about this. Cold superconductivity is a temporary, artificial effect. And there's a limit on the amount of current that can flow thru a superconductor before it loses its superconductive properties (don't ask where I read it because that was years ago). But carbon nanotubes have a permanent structure.

So I'd say this is the *REAL* superconductivity, and the phenomena discovered in near-0K conditions was just an attempt to it.