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Silicon Superconductors

Diana writes "Physicists at CNRS have demonstrated superconductivity in silicon, the element long known for its semiconducting properties. High doping is the key — by substituting 9% of the silicon atoms with boron atoms, it was found that the resistance of the material drops sharply when cooled below 0.35 K. A small increase in the transition temperature is likely with further work."

141 comments

  1. Its getting hot in here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "A small increase in the transition temperature is likely with further work."

    It could go as high as 0.40K. Hooray.

  2. Um by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pretty much anything will superconduct below 0.35K. How is this news?

    1. Re:Um by wass · · Score: 3, Informative


      Pretty much anything will superconduct below 0.35K. How is this news?


      Actually, no, many things do not superconduct at arbitrarily low temperature, common examples being some of the best room-temperatures conductors we know of (eg copper and gold). Pure silicon also does not superconduct, as explained in TFA, which was known for some time.

      As for this being news, well it interests me because I do experimental research with superconductors. But I'm surprised it made the front page of slashdot.

      --

      make world, not war

    2. Re:Um by sillybilly · · Score: 1

      Why don't copper and gold get superconductive at an arbitrarily low temperature?

    3. Re:Um by mikael · · Score: 2, Informative

      Wikipedia has an explanation.

      The electrical resistivity of a metallic conductor decreases gradually as the temperature is lowered. However, in ordinary conductors such as copper and silver, impurities and other defects impose a lower limit. Even near absolute zero a real sample of copper shows a non-zero resistance.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    4. Re:Um by sillybilly · · Score: 1

      That's not an explanation of why, but a what. I was hoping to gain a deeper understanding of superconductivity, not from the point of view of why some materials exhibit superconductivity, but why others don't. If you can explain the why's of the don't then you may get a clue for the why's of the do.

    5. Re:Um by gantry · · Score: 1

      Conventional superconductivity arises in a metal when there is a strong interaction between the conduction electrons and the atoms of the crystal lattice. Distortion of the lattice by the electrons gives rise to a weak long range attraction between electrons. At low temperatures, this weak attraction causes the electrons to form pairs, and superconductivity is the result.

      At higher temperatures, binding of the pairs is destroyed by thermal agitation, and the metal becomes a normal conductor. The electron-lattice interaction causes electrical resistance (electrons colliding with the atoms of the lattice). Copper and gold are good conductors because they have a weak electron-lattice interaction; for the same reason they are not superconductors.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCS_theory

    6. Re:Um by henc · · Score: 1

      I'd say that 0.35K is not an arbitrary low temperature. - Since it's about -272,80 degrees Celsius... - Still far from usable outside any laboratory. h

    7. Re:Um by sillybilly · · Score: 1

      So what is it that makes some metals never attain superconductivity no matter how low the temperature? I still haven't got an explanation.

  3. OK, science is cool and everything by multiplexo · · Score: 4, Funny

    But you can make pretty much anything superconductive if you get it down below .5 Kelvin. I mean really, go much lower and you can make Twinkies superconductive much less boron doped silicon.

    --
    cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
    1. Re:OK, science is cool and everything by RuBLed · · Score: 5, Informative

      You forgot to put the link... http://www.twinkiesproject.com/

    2. Re:OK, science is cool and everything by Walt+Dismal · · Score: 1

      I, for one, welcome our new superconductive Twinkie overlords.

    3. Re:OK, science is cool and everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      If I'm not mistaken, Silicon behaves like an insulator as temperature approaches absolute zero. That's because the electrons reside in the covalent bonds at these temperature, and thus there are no free electrons for conduction. Since boron lacks an electron in the outer shell compared to silicon, the conclusion in the article is kind of expected.



      I know that mobile electron density (and thus conductivity) is taught pretty much on the first day of most sophomore-level electrical engineering microelectronic circuit classes. Is this really a breakthrough?

    4. Re:OK, science is cool and everything by mattcasters · · Score: 1

      > twinkie attached to standard electrical plug atop standard notebook paper

      Just when I thought I saw it all, something like this comes along.
      Making science popular to younsters is fine and all, but come on!

      This is getting silly, I have to protest!

      --
      News about the Kettle Open Source project: on my blog
    5. Re:OK, science is cool and everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody doesn't like molten Boron!

  4. So..... by PHAEDRU5 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Superconductivity in non-superconductive materials, except where they've been doped to be superconductive.

    Makes me want to get back to the pub.

    --
    668: Neighbour of the Beast
    1. Re:So..... by El+Cubano · · Score: 1

      by substituting 9% of the silicon atoms with boron atoms

      That makes me wonder if it is still legitimately considered silicon. I mean, replacing nearly 10% of it with another element must mean that it falls into another classification. I don't think it could be considered a compound since the atoms are not bonding in the traditional sense, they are simply occupying places in a crystalline structure. Perhaps it is more appropriate to call it a "silicon-based material"

    2. Re:So..... by gt_mattex · · Score: 2, Funny

      Superconductivity in non-superconductive materials, except where they've been doped to be superconductive.

      Makes me want to get back to the pub.

      After your good and 'doped' up do we throw you in the freezer and run a current through you?

      --
      "No doubt one may quote history to support any cause, as the devil quotes scripture." - Learned Hand
    3. Re:So..... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Informative

      replacing nearly 10% of it with another element must mean that it falls into another classification.

            An alloy, if you will?

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    4. Re:So..... by SilentBob0727 · · Score: 1

      No, not really an alloy, since at least one of the constituents of an alloy needs to be a metal. Silicon and boron are both metalloids, and are therefore weak conductors. The change in conductivity is created by the effect the doping has on silicon's conduction band.

      --
      Life would be easier if I had the source code.
    5. Re:So..... by SilentBob0727 · · Score: 2, Informative

      The doping is a small enough percentage that it still retains the crystal structure of silicon, so on a macroscopic level, it still looks and behaves like silicon. The crystal structure forces the boron to act like silicon, which is key because boron has two fewer valence electrons than silicon, resulting in stable "electron holes" in the conduction band that raise the overall mobility of electrons, and therefore raise the conductivity of the material.

      So no, it's not pure elemental silicon, but it's still silicon. It's like saying that even if my tap water contains 10% impurities, it's still water.

      --
      Life would be easier if I had the source code.
    6. Re:So..... by SilentBob0727 · · Score: 1

      Might make for some interesting cryonics experiments. Fiber optic cable be damned.

      --
      Life would be easier if I had the source code.
    7. Re:So..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So no, it's not pure elemental silicon, but it's still silicon. It's like saying that even if my tap water contains 10% impurities, it's still water.

      Interesting you should say that. Did you know that beer is well over 90% water?

    8. Re:So..... by SilentBob0727 · · Score: 1

      That would explain my hangovers...

      --
      Life would be easier if I had the source code.
    9. Re:So..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then, ... "Alloyoid"?

    10. Re:So..... by I+Like+Pudding · · Score: 1
      So no, it's not pure elemental silicon, but it's still silicon. It's like saying that even if my tap water contains 10% impurities, it's still water.


      Bullshit. Dump 10% Kool-aid powder in there and get Kool-aid. Stick a teabag in there and get tea. Run it through some beans and get coffee.
    11. Re:So..... by SilentBob0727 · · Score: 1

      Cut me some slack. I posted that at 3 in the morning and was grabbing for analogies.

      Still, I think you'd agree that even in the cases of beer, coffee, tea, gatorade, what have you, that despite the fact that the flavor, color, aroma, and possibly texture in the case of soda, have changed, it still, from a purely mechanical perspective, "acts" like water. It still turns into ice if you stick it in the freezer. It still boils if you put it on the stove. It still conforms to the shape of its container. Its density is still approximately 1g/mL. Assuming you haven't added any thickening agents, its viscosity remains the same. That's kind of the point I was trying to make.

      However, liquid water doesn't have a crystalline structure, and in ice, impurities aren't substituted for H2O molecules and forced to "act like" water. In silicon doping, this IS the case, so the water analogy isn't entirely appropriate.

      --
      Life would be easier if I had the source code.
  5. How useful is this? by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Interesting
    0.35 K? as in... barely above absolute zero?

    Etienne says that they will probably be able to increase the transition temperature a bit further, although the material will be unlikely to have any applications in consumer devices.
    What non-consumer applications will it have? Getting something down to .35K isn't exactly trivial...

    IIRC, anything that doesn't superconduct at the temp of liquid nitrogen is a pain in the ass to use.
    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:How useful is this? by human+spam+filter · · Score: 0
      IIRC, anything that doesn't superconduct at the temp of liquid nitrogen is a pain in the ass to use.
      This may be true but commercial applications (like NMR spectrometers) actually use superconductors that are not superconductive at LN2 temperatures, they usually use liquid helium (4.2K) or use techniques to reach even lower temperatures. The point is that superconductors are mostly used to generate magnetic fields and the the amount of current a superconductor can carry (critical current) depends on both temperature and magnetic field. High temperature superconductors usually can't carry high currents at LN2 temperatures if a magnetic field is present. Actually, I don't know if it is possible to prove that a metal would not be superconducting at room temperatures if absolutely no magnetic field was present.
    2. Re:How useful is this? by swordgeek · · Score: 3, Informative

      First of all, it's called RESEARCH! It's a very new and different bit of science--who knows where it could lead us?

      Secondly, just because things are a pain in the ass doesn't mean they don't have useful applications. NMR/MRI have been dependent on low-temp superconductors (i.e. liquid He or even colder) for decades, and they're immensely important for research and medicine.

      --

      "People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
    3. Re:How useful is this? by wass · · Score: 1

      It's more of interest for physics-level study of electron interactions. This announcement would be one of many similar research papers to hit the physics journals each week, nearly all of which don't have immediate applications in mind. But that's the point of physics, to study what the hell happens in systems, and to explain why we see what we think is weird behavior, or to try to predict other effects.

      I'm sure most of the people studying electron band structure of p and n doped silicon could never have dreamed of the multi-billion dollar semiconductor industry to pop up over the next several decades. Some of my colleagues were among the first people to discover GMR (Giant Magnetoresistance), and that science has been immediately applied and wound up revolutionizing the magnetic media industry. But the grad studnets studying M-H curves for bilayer systems, and writing up papers that they thought only a few others in the field would read, probably never would have imagined such a market they'd open up.

      --

      make world, not war

    4. Re:How useful is this? by Fred_A · · Score: 3, Funny
      What non-consumer applications will it have? Getting something down to .35K isn't exactly trivial...
      Agreed, I know I definitely am going to need bigger fans to get to that level of cooling in my machine. Much bigger fans.
      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    5. Re:How useful is this? by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      You'll also need *much* colder air to blow with your fans. In fact maybe liquid pumps or something that can move solid air would be needed. ;)
      I'll recommed starting by shooting your own satellite up indo space. ther you certanly won't have any cooling problems. :D
      (Only the response time will suck. ;)

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    6. Re:How useful is this? by ccp · · Score: 1
      Getting something down to .35K isn't exactly trivial...

      In space it is.

      Cheers,
      CC
  6. superconducting semiconductor? by HAL9000_mirror · · Score: 2, Insightful

    whatever that means!

    1. Re:superconducting semiconductor? by NanoProf · · Score: 3, Informative

      It means quite a bit. Strontium titanate was the first superconducting semiconductor, predicted to be so by Marvin Cohen (my theses advisor :-) and later confirmed by experiment. The general idea is that a semiconductor with multiple valleys in the conduction band into which to place dopant electrons can rapidly develop low-energy electronic states under doping, and these are the states that couple to lattice vibrations and so generate superconductivity. If you don't have a problem with the term "doped semiconductor," (which is a material that actually conducts- how do you think those electrons get through transistors on computer chips :-), then you should be ok with "superconducting semiconductor".

      --
      Curtains for windows?
    2. Re:superconducting semiconductor? by feranick · · Score: 1

      Silicon is a semiconductor (at room temperature, undoped). If doped and at 0.35K, it becomes superconductive. Saying "superconductive semiconductor" is quite misleading, like saying, "liquid ice". It's the same material, but it has different properties at different Temperatures.

    3. Re:superconducting semiconductor? by trentblase · · Score: 1

      The best name for this would actually be "semisuperconductor". Since a semiconductor is sometimes an insulator and sometimes a conductor, it follows that something that is sometimes a superconductor would be called a semisuperconductor.

    4. Re:superconducting semiconductor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any relation to David X. Cohen?

    5. Re:superconducting semiconductor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Supersemiconductor, or perhaps Semisuperconductor...

  7. 0.35K ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How is that useful? Only Canada gets that cold!

    1. Re:0.35K ? by Feyr · · Score: 1

      Damn right. don't come here, you'll freeze and your fingers and other protruding parts will fall off.

      that also mean we get to keep all the cute chix0rs

  8. House temp... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a coincide, 0.35 K is the same temp I keep my house ;)

  9. Re:So who the fuck cares by daniel_newton · · Score: 1, Interesting

    space is pretty cold, maybe they could use it up there?

  10. Be Sure To Practice Safe Si by ryanisflyboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    And just to make the article more clear: Let's substitute "boron" with Tom (hey, what guy wouldn't want more boron?), and "silicon" with Suzie (hey, what girl woudln't want more, eh, yeah.).

    "Because it has one fewer electron than Suzie available for bonding with neighbouring atoms, Tom incorporated into Suzie leaves a positively-charged "hole" at each site where Tom's "missing" electron would be paired with one of Suzie's."

    Well they did do it in France, you know.

    1. Re:Be Sure To Practice Safe Si by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 0

      hehe....

      Mod parent up! .....for humor.

      --
      Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
    2. Re:Be Sure To Practice Safe Si by Serpentegena · · Score: 1

      And where the stray electrons combine, a jet of the single largest particle gets released - the hardon.

      --
      Microsoft put the "sucks" in "success".
  11. Re:So who the fuck cares by HAL9000_mirror · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One should not always relate things to 'applied' science. There is a predecessor called 'pure' science that acts as an enabler for rest of the world. Sure average Joe doesn't care but it is a significant improvement in the scientific world. Now many critical research can be performed on "silicon" (although at insanely low temperature). Remember the time when there were only few elements in the world that exhibited the property of superconducting? Now Silicon is yet another addition and considering how Silicon is closely related to computing, this could be a jump board for the speed-demanding future ahead.

  12. Re:So who the fuck cares by Ididerus · · Score: 2, Informative

    Um, lots of people care. The MRI machines use super-conducting material cooled with liquid nitrogen, this might make them more efficient. Plus, when I've got my Mag-Lev skate board, you're gonna think I'm pretty cool too. Even if I
    am in space.

    BTW, 0.35 K = -272 C

    Space is around 2.7K or, -270 C (Assuming no Extraneous Radiation)

    --
    I'm fighting The War on Drugs!
  13. Re:So who the fuck cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The blackbody spectrum of space is still 3K or so.

  14. Missing the point... by physicsphairy · · Score: 3, Funny

    If we can turn semiconductors into superconductors, then we can probably turn my band conductor into a semi-conductor, which would at the very least mean less thrown chairs during parent teacher conferences, and less thrown chairs can only be good for Linux!

    (Yes, that happened; and yes, he is still in band director.)

    1. Re:Missing the point... by holdenholden · · Score: 1

      Balmer teaches music???

    2. Re:Missing the point... by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      Yes...

      Windows, windows uber alles...

      A popular favorite in his class.

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    3. Re:Missing the point... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The easiest way to turn your band conductor into a semi-conductor is with a band-saw... Turning him into a super conductor is probably impossible.

    4. Re:Missing the point... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The force is strong in this one...

  15. Boron by sankyuu · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Gah!
    How is this useful? What are applications? Blahblah

    Since when did science have to have applications?
    (This isn't sarcasm; science is about discovery. Applications of those discoveries are mostly accident. You can't automatically "succeed" at science. Failing to find a room-temperature superconductor isn't failing per se; it means succeeding to eliminate another coulda been material. Finding dead ends is part of the quest. And this result might not yet be a dead end.)

    So far, most of the comments have been posted by boring morons.

    -A bored moron
    1. Re:Boron by espressojim · · Score: 2, Informative

      Eh, just because you haven't found a material that is a superconductor at room temperature doesn't mean that there aren't any. It's easy to say "X can happen, because we have example Y", but you can't say "X can't happen, because we have example Y". All you can do is state all the places you've seen that it doesn't work. Sometimes, you can generalize those results (water from the atlantic ocean is not made of cheese, and thus we have no reason to believe that water from the pacific is either.)

      Negative results are still results - they limit the problem space that you can search to find a positive result.

    2. Re:Boron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought Boron is just that - a Bored Moron

    3. Re:Boron by Sique · · Score: 1

      This is called the inductive principle (we assume, that the future is not much different from the past), but in fact it has not much value in science as such. It is one of the possible hypothesis generators, but it is neither the only one nor does it warrant a "better" hypothesis than others.
      Each hypothesis, independent from it's origin, still has to undergo evaluation, until it finally dies in an experiment which proves, that the hypothesis is wrong, or it goes thrown out because it is only a restatement of "Zero equals Zero".

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    4. Re:Boron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So far, most of the comments have been posted by boring morons.
      Don't you mean borons?
    5. Re:Boron by espressojim · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't ever say that an alternative hypothesis is 'better' than the original one you're testing without evidence. However, when you say A->B, and you can disprove a bunch of alternatives, it makes the original more attractive, because you've shown that the alternatives are unlikely.

      For backround: I'm in the bioinformatics field. One of the last papers we published was on the effects of selection on conserved non-coding sequences. There were a number of hypothesis for the effect we were observing with the data. We had to design a bunch of alternative hypothesis to 'knock out' the other mechanisms for the effect that would have been possible. Once we'd done that with all the reasonable alternatives, we were more sure of our original result. That doesn't mean someone couldn't come up with more data and an alternative hypothesis that is more believable - which would mean their hypothesis would 'take the lead'.

      Sorry if I wasn't more explicit, or if I was entirely unclear...:)

    6. Re:Boron by Sique · · Score: 1

      But you describe the Homesian deduction principle: "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" (Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign Of Four), where the hypotheses, that remain after a bunch of them are eliminated due to contradictions with observations, are the ones that are considered correct until more evidence shows up. That's quite different from induction, where you collect evidence until you spot a pattern and then use the pattern to form a hypothesis.

      In fact many cultures were very wary in accepting inductive results: We all have experienced that the Sun comes up every morning, and that after every winter there is springtime, but a lot of cultures don't trust this and have elaborate cults to force the Sun to come up every morning and to get the Winter to leave the country. And all our security measures, if they make sense, are designed to expect that tomorrow is different than today (e.g. that history is not inductively predictable).

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    7. Re:Boron by espressojim · · Score: 1
      But you describe the Homesian deduction principle: "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" (Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign Of Four), where the hypotheses, that remain after a bunch of them are eliminated due to contradictions with observations, are the ones that are considered correct until more evidence shows up. That's quite different from induction, where you collect evidence until you spot a pattern and then use the pattern to form a hypothesis.


      Eh, you collect evidence until you spot a pattern, and you form a hypothesis. Fortunately, you aren't close minded, so you realize that there are alternative hypothesis which could also be true given the evidence found. This forces you to gather further information to decide if the original hypothesis or one of the alternate hypothesis is the most believable.

      We're dealing with statistical levels of proof, and incomplete information (actually, just to say we're dealing with statistics at all means that we haven't exhaustively measured the data in our population of samples.) You do the best you can with the resources you have to come up with a conclusion. You set thresholds of believability before you start the experiment. Sometimes, later on other people are able to gather more data than you were able to (more/different resources, changes in technology) and hypothesis get altered/discarded. As far as I can tell as a professional scientist, that's the way things work.

      And, while I understand that it's an appeal to authority, the process I've been describing seems to have been 'good enough' to get multiple publications in Nature Genetics.
  16. Oh, Canada... by flyingfsck · · Score: 0, Troll

    At 0.35K it will only ever work in Canada. So Winterpeg could become a mecca of supercooled computing yet...

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  17. Re:So who the fuck cares by dbIII · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who cares? People who are trying to work out how superconductivity happens so that there may been room temperature superconductivity some day - that is who cares. Please keep the profanity to yourself as you play in the garden and let the Moorlocks get back to it.

  18. Re:So who the fuck cares by windsurfer619 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But you must admit, getting an object to 0.35 K from 3 K is a lot easier than bringing it from 300 K.

  19. they got it all backwards by LM741N · · Score: 2, Funny

    Boron was made superconducting by doping it with 90% silicon.

    1. Re:they got it all backwards by TheSync · · Score: 1

      Boron has already been made superconducting five years ago. It becomes superconducting when squeezed with a pressure of 160 gigapascals at a transition temperature of 6K.

  20. 0.35K is rather cold by NixieBunny · · Score: 4, Informative
    I realize that this is just a laboratory curiosity at this point, and no one would try to use such a compound commercially. Still, a brief description of what it's like to make 0.35K is in order.

    I work on a radiotelescope that uses receivers cooled to 4K. These use a helium refrigerator that works just like the Freon thing in your car but using helium instead of Freon as the phase-change medium. It takes three stages of cooling (with compressors and heat exchangers) to get to the 4K point. It also takes 10 kW of electrical power to cool one watt of load to 4K.

    We until recently had one receiver, a bolometer, that was cooled to 0.4K using the 3He isotope of helium that has a lower boiling point. The refrigerator for this is a fist-sized gadget that uses a charcoal trap, a heater resistor and some plumbing to make a refrigerator that can be cycled to produce 0.4K for a day or so at a time. It makes many microwatts of 0.4K coldness from less than one watt of 4K coldness.

    Unfortunately, the 3He leaked out and the gizmo is currently a paperweight since it was made by a very clever French guy who's no longer in the business.

    You can still buy 3He refrigerators from other manufacturers, but they are two feet long. The 3He is available for several thousand dollars a bottle.

    --
    The determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language.
    1. Re:0.35K is rather cold by wass · · Score: 4, Informative

      Getting to 4K is relatively easy, you get a dewar of helium (this is the relatively abundant He4 isotope) at roughly $4 per liter. You can cool to 1K relatively easily too by pumping on the vapor over the helium, evaporatively cooling ot down to 1K. It's inefficient to do this, though, people tend to build a 1K pot into their cryostat to only pump on a small volume of helium to cool their system to 1K, not the whole dewar.

      Regarding the Helium 3 Fridge, that's actually doing the EXACT same thing as the 1K pot above, you're evaporatively pumping He3 with the charcoal sorb. Since He3 is rare and expensive, this is done in a closed system and recycled.

      I know your pain, though, our He3 fridge has a leak, luckily not on the He3 system (He3 is super expensive), and it's been a pain in the ass to try to fix. To fix your system, you probably don't need that French dude to fix it, get a leak checker (find some experimental condensed matter guys that do vacuum sputtering or evaporation work, they'll have a leak checker), track down the leak on your He3 system, plug the leak (silver solder if possible w/ your machine shop), then pay some $$$ to inject some He3 back in when you're damn sure you've got no more leaks left.

      --

      make world, not war

    2. Re: 0.35K is rather cold by Vadim+Makarov · · Score: 1

      Janis Research makes a closed-cycle adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator system that can cool things down to 0.1 K, requires no maintenance, and is tabletop-sized (well, at the limit of the definition: the two boxes, wessel + compressor, weight over 200 kg when added together).

      Their site seems to be down right now, but it must be a temporary glitch.

      --
      17779 eligible voters in a district, 17779 'vote' as one. This is Russia.
  21. Re:So who the fuck cares by Heir+Of+The+Mess · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's just a process of discovery to advance science. If we didn't go through these scientific processes of discovery then we would still have people running around thinking that everything was controlled by some big booming voice in the sky. Oh wait...

    --
    Australian running a company that does C# / C++ / Java / SQL / Python / Mathematica
  22. This will be useful in low temperature physics by ebers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yes, 0.35 K is really cold. Refridgeration methods that reach this temperature cost ~ $100,000 and use the helium-3 isotope as the working fluid, which costs several hundred dollars per gaseous liter at STP. But this may still be useful because there is lots of established technology for making very small things out of silicon, and lots of fundemental physics that can only be done at very small length scales and in very cold environments.

    1. Re:This will be useful in low temperature physics by joto · · Score: 1

      Thank you. You are the first to give a plausible explanation as to why anyone would be interested in another superconductor, when it needs such a low temperature. However, if people are interested in doing low-temperature nanoscale physics experiments, I'm all for that!

    2. Re:This will be useful in low temperature physics by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 1

      I've got another one, related to the first: Super-conducting sensors are several orders of magnitude more responsive than normal sensors. The problem is to pass that data to the non-superconducting circuits that record the data, and in designing those sensors.

      We already have designs for sensors made out of silicon, and I bet these superconductors integrate fairly well with normal computer components...

      --
      'Sensible' is a curse word.
  23. Re:So who the fuck cares by swordgeek · · Score: 4, Informative

    The only thing worse than an aggressively ignorant idiot is a foul-mouthed one.

    In the 1830s, it was discovered that some materials acted as neither pure conductors nor pure insulators. They called them semiconductors, and they were a curiosity until the 1890s, when they were found to be useful as rectifiers and photovoltaic cells. Another 40 years later, and people started to consider them as a replacement for the triode vacuum tube, which was immensely useful but fragile and difficult to deal with.

    Pure research in new directions isn't just allowed because it 'might lead to something,' it's absolutely essential in order to progress beyond refinement of the existing.

    --

    "People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
  24. Don't piss of the Borons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    High doping is the key -- by substituting 9% of the silicon atoms with boron atoms
    Uh oh... won't the Boron come looking for their atoms?? That is, if they can stop fighting the Split long enough.
  25. Re:So who the fuck cares by djupedal · · Score: 1, Funny

    Please keep the profanity to yourselfNow there's something not seen every day - a wannabe list-mom, not afraid to strike out. Wickedly delivered, sure to strike fear in the heart of the evil-doer you've so publically chastised. Can we have another?

    Let me offer just a small bit of advice, and remember, it is promised to be worth exactly what you paid for it.

    Stop - don't do that again. You'll only bring attention to yourself as being a target ripe for kicking, while setting yourself up for a tight-fitting suit of frustration. Most forums have appointed Moderators who are responsible for reminding the rowdy - but this is Slashdot, where there are no visible moderators. Once the blood (yours) gets in the water, every shark in the vicinity will line up for a bite of your face...and they have pretty long memories, so don't think you can drop into lurk mode and resurface for a second attempt any time soon.

    If you simply can't resist the urge to police another human being, try hanging out near the Slushy machine at your favorite 7-11. First time someone wastes a napkin or spills on the floor, feel free to put on your best mean-face...don't be shy. Promise them the risk of being banned from the store is real...ask their name and take it down, then angrily storm up to the cashier and hand it over, not with a shrug. but with the hard-boned hubrusity of someone who is convinced they are society's elite. This will not only make your day as a citizen, it will be something you'll be proud of for years to come.

    Put it on your resume, perhaps. Who knows, with the way things are going, the need for easily identifiable assholes such as yourself may just become a premium within our lifetime.

  26. Doping by Van+Cutter+Romney · · Score: 1, Redundant

    This goes to show that even silicon when doped get high!

    --
    Now, that's a sig!

    --
    Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
  27. start the car by ElephanTS · · Score: 4, Funny

    I tried super-doping myself but it got boron after a while.

    --
    spoonerize "magic trackpad"
  28. Oh, you are naughty... by PHAEDRU5 · · Score: 1

    ...but I like you...

    --
    668: Neighbour of the Beast
  29. Yeaaaah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    High doping is the key to everything, man..

  30. This is news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, I understand the need for and value of pure science. Yes, I understand that new discoveries may take years or decades to have a commercial use.

    So?

    That doesn't make this news. The ability to make things superconduct at vanishingly low temperatures is nothing new.

    Now, when this leads us to an understanding of the why and how behind superconductivity, _that_ will be news. When this leads us to something that superconducts at a temperature reachable by your average refrigeration system, _that_ will be news. Until then, this is simply business as usual in the world of research.

    1. Re:This is news? by antispam_ben · · Score: 1

      That doesn't make this news.

      C'mon, this is Slashdot. News of matter, stuff for nerds.

      --
      Tag lost or not installed.
  31. Anything but that... by djupedal · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    A small increase in transition temperature was the last thing we needed at this point. What little luck we had left was spent during the gravitational slingshot and none of us needed a glance at the holo-panel to know the ion shields had only minutes before a collapsed inner hull went from worry to worse.

    Without saying it aloud, we all knew the survival of the ship...our survival...was totally dependent on staying out of sensor range for just a bit longer. The sub-orbital alerting buoys, with their grid-multiplied scan vectors and frequency-hopping proximity background energy detectors, had only to exert minimal effort before group consensus deemed us an unauthorized guest.

  32. Re:So who the fuck cares by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 1
    If you simply can't resist the urge to police another human being, try hanging out near the Slushy machine at your favorite 7-11.... Put it on your resume, perhaps. Who knows, with the way things are going, the need for easily identifiable assholes such as yourself...
    Ahhh, yah. What you said.
    --
    -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
  33. Mod the parent down by feranick · · Score: 1

    Please! Since when everything is supposed to make sense only if it has tech applications? You seem to be missing the point of science really. The fact that doped silicon exhibit superconductivity is per se a great discovery. There are plenty of examples of "useless" science: black holes, dark matter, superfluidity. You may not care (busy playing your new PS3?). The rest of us really do.

    1. Re:Mod the parent down by Skrynesaver · · Score: 1
      There are plenty of examples of "useless" science: black holes, dark matter, superfluidity. You may not care (busy playing your new PS3?). The rest of us really do.
      I could be wrong ( no, no it happens sometimes) but the point the GP appeared to be making is that the pursuit of pure knowledge is of itself a worthwhile goal. There have over the centuries been many discoveries without an apparent pupose at the time. However as well as being a species of exploreres and scientists we're also (as slashdot's ppopulation would exemplify) inveterate tinkerers, that "pure" science discovery would do a lovely job there as a fundamental priciple of my new device.
      --
      "Linux is for noobs"-The new MS fud strategy
  34. Re:So who the fuck cares by Alsee · · Score: 1

    people running around thinking that everything was controlled by some big booming voice in the sky

    They are called radio waves. Rush Limbaugh's voice isn't really coming from the sky.

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  35. Re:So who the fuck cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The only thing worse than an aggressively ignorant idiot is a foul-mouthed one."

    Or an idiot chastising another idiot. So WTF is a "pure conductor" or a "pure insulator?" As far as anyone could tell, you might be referring to resistor.

  36. Re:So who the fuck cares by Tyler+Eaves · · Score: 1

    That's a common misconception. Space has no temperature. It is neither cold nor hot. You must have a molecular medium to have a temperature. It's kinda analogues to the water pressure in an empty glass.

    --
    TODO: Something witty here...
  37. Re:So who the fuck cares by feranick · · Score: 1

    You don't seem familiar with solid state physics. A 'pure conductor" is defined very well as a material where electrons are present in the conduction band, and weekly bounded to the core. A pure insulator has the conduction band empty. and a big band gap prevents electron from the valence band (closer to the core) to make the jump into the conduction band. Semiconductors are somewhere in between, they have a small gap so electron can effectively make the jump into the conduction band under specific conditions (by applying an external voltage for example). As we say in my country: "Before you talk, shut up" (and think).

  38. doping boron by v4vijayakumar · · Score: 1

    substituting 9% of the silicon atoms with boron atoms, ...That means doping boron, not silicon.

  39. Re:So who the fuck cares by dbIII · · Score: 1
    So - are those couple of sentences as pathetic as the person who replies to it with a couple of paragraphs? OK so some of it was funny.

    I'm pointing out that in my opinion an ill informed idiot is also a pointlessly swearing idiot. A worthless argument suddenly carries weight and gets attention becuase it makes it look like strong feelings are involved - it looked to me like pointless swearing to get attention to a stupid argument. For some reason this made me think of marketing people creeping into slashdot hence the Moorlock bit - but that's just paranoia and predjudice.

  40. Re:So who the fuck cares by shaitand · · Score: 1

    So you are saying that all that is needed to attain absolute zero is a vacuum?

  41. Re:So who the fuck cares by dbIII · · Score: 1
    You don't seem familiar with solid state physics ... "A 'pure conductor" is defined very well ... Semiconductors ... pure insulator ... Before you talk, shut up" (and think).

    Nasty.

    Now if I take a BiSiCuYt superconductor at a low temperature it superconducts, higher and it semiconducts, room temperature and it insulates. Why is this so? Has the mechanism behind superconductivity been worked out in the last couple of years when I wasn't paying attention - and can you explain it?

  42. Too Much Battlestar Galactica. by camperdave · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've been watching too much of the original Battlestar Galactica. With their "centons", "sectons", "furlons", "crawlons", and of course "Cylons", when I saw the term boron, my first thought was that it was some sort of unit of boredom. Then I read the article, and realized I was right.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  43. Re:So who the fuck cares by shaitand · · Score: 1

    "pointlessly swearing idiot"

    I am going to ignore the name-calling you wielded in that same statement. Who says there has to be a point to swearing? In fact, last I checked this is supposed to be a new millennium staffed with new and improved intelligent human beings. An intelligent human will immediately dismiss the entire concept of 'swear' words, 'bad' words, and 'profanity' as illogical nonsense. Words can no more be profane or bad than guns can kill people. Words, Guns, Knives, Hammers, Racks, Hack Saws, Poisons, and Medicines are all inanimate objects incapable of motive. The tool bears no responsibility for the actions of the higher life form who wields it.

    If you find yourself offended by the words of another I recommend you consider why. Is it the message being conveyed by the other you find offensive or the words themselves? Either way you need to evaluate whether those feelings are logically consistent and correct yourself if needed. Of course, if it is the words that offend you then logic will always lead to the conclusion that you need to correct yourself and dismiss the ignorant and merit-less moral notions passed down from the 50's.

    "stupid argument"

    Certainly, unlike your own educated and firmly supported arguments. You have proven that a declaration of the stupidity of another's argument is obviously a self-evident point requiring no support whatsoever. Clearly, arguments like these are of high caliber and should be credited with greater merit than those to which you were responding.

  44. Pamela Anderson by corychristison · · Score: 2, Funny

    So I guess Pamela Anderson is more useful than we thought! Other than the obvious, of course. ;-)

  45. Re:So who the fuck cares by Kheng · · Score: 1

    An absolute vacuum, devoid of any matter or energy

  46. Re:So who the fuck cares by dbIII · · Score: 1
    Certainly, unlike your own educated and firmly supported arguments

    Have you actually read the post this was in reply to? Now what do you think it was advocating and why do you think I object to that?

    How do you extrapolate all this from three words? Most if not all of it is totally wrong - I can answer easily with a bit of name calling to save time - that I am offended by what I see as a loud attention seeking luddite that is using a bit of profanity to get that attention. All this pop sociology or whatever it is based on what is most likely a different country as well as a different time is somewhat missing the point.

  47. Re:So who the fuck cares by dbIII · · Score: 1
    I am going to ignore the name-calling you wielded in that same statement

    Good idea - considering what you called Robert Cresanti.

    I should finally point out what is spelt out above - that I said it was in my OPINION the person is a both an idiot and pointlessly swearing idiot. With just a few words there is little way to know if I am just some guy off the street or the moral crusader that bit your dog so hold on there. I object to what the poster said and the attention grabbing hence the comment - people should have objected more to the hint of the threat of cannibalism of this person by techies if they are really going to read so much into it.

  48. Re:So who the fuck cares by ZX3+Junglist · · Score: 1

    We're forgetting the fact that we wouldn't be measuring the temperature of space, but the temperature of the conductive device in said space.

  49. Re:So who the fuck cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why do you think I object to that?Most likely a deep seated fear of being seen as not only weak minded but spiritually unfulfilled as well? No? Ummmm...let me think. I'll get it. Don't tell me! - Ah!! Sugar overdose coupled with chronic sleep deprivation on top of the fact that you lost your keys to the lock on your diary, in which case you have to wear your sister's soiled underwear for a month straight, then, right? :) Got to be better ways of getting attention in gym class, but whatever makes your mop flop...

    is somewhat missing the pointPoint? You were trying to make a point...? Really? How does unsolicited e-chastisement tinged with disenfranchised gender identity indicate any type of point-making effort?

  50. For some reason... by Wolfier · · Score: 1

    This character reminds me of him.

  51. Re:So who the fuck cares by agentcdog · · Score: 4, Informative

    No. You are wrong. Read up about blackbody radiation. Space is like a big cavity with blackbody radiation that's about 3k. That's the thing about electromagnetic radiation - you don't need a medium. Let me make it clear... If you brought a piece of metal into space, would it keep cooling off by radiation? No. Why? Because at 3 kelvin space would be giving it as much energy as it is shedding. The pipe and space would be at an equilibrium state when the pipe reached 3 kelvin. You see how this is real temperature? Good.

    --
    If I understand Dirac correctly, his meaning is this: there is no God, and Dirac is his Prophet. -Pauli
  52. Re:So who the fuck cares by UncleTogie · · Score: 1
    "Now if I take a BiSiCuYt superconductor at a low..."

    So just what WOULD you use a superconducting biscuit for, anyway?

    {Sorry, couldn't resist....}

    --
    Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
  53. Re:So who the fuck cares by sillybilly · · Score: 1

    Right on. Was just gonna say that, but you said it better.

  54. Things by mqduck · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can do things I normally can't when I'm doped, too.

    --
    Property is theft.
  55. Re:So who the fuck cares by SilentBob0727 · · Score: 1

    Yep, but space has an almost infinite specific heat, so using it to super-cool things may take a while. Not to mention keeping it cool once it's up there, what with all that darn pesky solar radiation.

    --
    Life would be easier if I had the source code.
  56. Re:So who the fuck cares by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 0

    No. What he's saying is more like: temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of the molecules/atoms in a substance. If there aren't any molecules, the temperuture is undefined.

    If you take the ideal gas law and rearrange it, you get T = pV/nR. n is the number of moles, which in a vaccuum is zero.

    --
    Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
  57. In Soviet Russia... by SilentBob0727 · · Score: 1

    Silicon dopes you.

    --
    Life would be easier if I had the source code.
  58. Re:So who the fuck cares by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 0
    For some reason this made me think of marketing people creeping into slashdot hence the Moorlock bit
    I like Moorlock - his "Nomads of Time" trilogy are particular favourites.
    --
    Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
  59. Re:So who the fuck cares by mattcasters · · Score: 1

    ...reading a post like that on Slashot: priceless!
    Thanks.

    --
    News about the Kettle Open Source project: on my blog
  60. Re:So who the fuck cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lookey here. Now a three-letter agency (i.e. WOO - Wizard Of Oz) can get their quantum computers' components manufactured in any silicon wafer fab and used with cryogenic processor so that they can break hard ciphers and read your PGP-ed mail, so watch out!

    I predict this is going to go mainstream quite fast (as soon as TLA's assess how wide is advantage margin they can keep on the rest of us). Superconducting CPU's will have virtually no dissipation, so if you keep them well thermally isolated, their energy expenditure will consist almost solely of the work needed to pull out the heat that crept into the system through thermal insulation. At some level of processing power, that breaks even with classical electronic computers and further on cryocomputers will be hands-down winners.

    Now, main question is how fast can cryogenic generators get miniaturized for household application (desktop computers)? I guess in the end they will fit the form factor of today's PSUs. Due to dissipation differences discussed above, we'll probably not need to upgrade them as often as we do now (only if case volume is increased, which will probably never happen, due to ever advancing miniaturization) but OTOH, their service life will probably be shorter, because of the moving parts and strain. Those will be the most delicate parts of new computers...

    Second by urgency is how to adapt assembling technology for very low temperatures? For one, PCB's wave superconducting-challenged copper goodbye! Alumin(i)um is likely the new king of the tracks, but it solders not, so new simple, Al-Al connecting, technology is wanted ASAP. My guess is on some kind of (super)conducting glues which will have to be invented if they aren't already, or on some special kind of flux which will disolve Al-oxide on solder-melting temperature. Oh, and, base for PCB will have to match closely thermal properties to Al instead of Cu, in much wider temp range then today's. FR-4 was good for Cu, perhaps because of fiberglass, but I'm not sure if it will be good as well for Al ( especially all the way down to 0.3K ).

    So far, it is all about hardware, but most astonishing change will be shift from bits to qubits. At first, probably every program we've got will map just fine onto quantum computers, but they are capable of doing more and we will all have to learn about it, about these new computing paradigms and to use them in new programs. For all of you math geniuses out there now is the time to step in ranks of great names of computing!

  61. Re:So who the fuck cares by somersault · · Score: 1

    people have had profanity, cursing, coarse language etc for thousands of years, it isn't just some thing that was made up recently. Words have meaning, and if that meaning is to do with bodily parts or functions, and the words are generally used in a derogatory manner, then of course the words themselves can generate emotions. It's not illogical. What exactly is the point in swearing if it becomes socially acceptable anyway? Extra verbs/adjectives for those that don't want to learn a proper variety of more useful and descriptive ones?

    --
    which is totally what she said
  62. Re:So who the fuck cares by Sparr0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not really. No one makes a 300K->.35K cooling device. Put simply, you take a 3K->.35K refrigerator and set it inside a 300K->3K refrigerator. Since any lab or plant that is doing this sort of work already has the 300K->3K unit, using said unit is a trivial addition to the process of using the new "low temp" unit.

  63. Superconducting CPU by Dachannien · · Score: 1

    Damn, I guess this water cooling system isn't going to cut it for my next upgrade.

  64. Not that expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Refridgeration methods that reach this temperature cost ~ $100,000 and use the helium-3 isotope as the working fluid, which costs several hundred dollars per gaseous liter at STP.

    You can get a He3 system (which will get you down to ~0.25-0.3K with very little work) for just under $50k, and since it's a closed system you don't have to buy any more helium-3.

    As a low temperature physicist, I have a hard time thinking of 0.35 K as unbeliveably cold. That's the temperature I get when my dilution refrigerator has a heat leak (and my fridge is not very good). Good dilfridges can get down to 0.015K or so, but they require more TLC than a He3 system.

  65. Re:So who the fuck cares by foobsr · · Score: 1

    That's a common misconception.

    At least a misconception that NASA also publishes.

    Quote: "If we put a thermometer in darkest space, with absolutely nothing around, it would first have to cool off. This might take a very very long time. Once it cooled off, it would read 2.7 Kelvin. This is because of the "3 degree microwave background radiation." No matter where you go, you cannot escape it -- it is always there."

    CC.

    --
    TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
  66. Re:So who the fuck cares by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
    The expense of any machinery capable of cooling something to 0.35 kelvin far outweighs the neatness of being able to do it with silicone too.

    Oh, I don't know about that. Imagine a pair of enhanced breasts, little stalactites of ice hanging from the nipples, provocatively visible through a lace bra made of advanced insulation, while thousands of amperes surge through the underlying silicone with virtually no loss at all. It'd be like... the "mother's milk of power!"(tm)

    I, for one, welcome our super-conducting silicone overlordettes. Show me the evidence, and I will believe!

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  67. Superconducting Semiconductors by gantry · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Some years ago, evidence for superconductivity was found in a gallium arsenide epitaxial device. The work was duly published, and only some time later was it realised that the superconductivity was occurring in metallic indium on the back of the device - the indium had been used as a good thermal conductor for mounting the GaAs substrate in the epitaxial growth chamber, and had not been completely removed.

    If these guys have done their work carefully, they will have gone to great lengths to ensure that they really are measuring doped silicon, and not boron-rich precipitates, which might be formed at these very high boron doses.

  68. Re:So who the fuck cares by obdulio · · Score: 1

    In space the temperature is very close to 0K. Maybe we can build some really fast computers and put them in orbit.....

    --
    PENAROL: Seras eterno como el tiempo y floreceras en cada primavera.
  69. Potentially not as important as it seems by Efreet · · Score: 1

    We've been able to create chips with Niobium implanted in silicon for quite a while, and Niobium superconducts at similar temperatures

    --
    This sig wasn't worth reading, was it.
  70. Re:So who the fuck cares by shaitand · · Score: 1

    "Extra verbs/adjectives for those that don't want to learn a proper variety of more useful and descriptive ones?"

    Note to self. A random individual on Slashdot nick'd as somersault is the ultimate authority on the English language and utility of the words contained therein. All must refer to his vast wisdom before using a verb or adjective to determine if that word is of the proper variety and worthwhile utility.

    "then of course the words themselves can generate emotions. It's not illogical."

    If someone routinely slams bedroom door in face then the door may be a trigger that stirs your emotion and offense. That hardly makes being angry with the door logical or valid. You should be angry with the person slamming the door in your face, not the door itself.

  71. Re:So who the fuck cares by doom · · Score: 1
    The MRI machines use super-conducting material cooled with liquid nitrogen

    Liquid nitrogen is only 77K. No where near cold enough.

  72. Re:So who the fuck cares by somersault · · Score: 1

    Really crap example :) Words hold meaning. It isn't so common for a door to evoke emotion, but it could remind someone of anger and make them sad, in the situation you describe. I'm glad you respect my authority, though I must admit I only know how to use the language rather than knowing the in depth mechanics of it. Swearing shouldn't be a requirement of good communication, personally (and I've just now come to this opinion while thinking of the situations where I hear the most swearing, and the people doing the swearing) to be some form of defense mechanism (I know a couple of 50-60 year old guys that love to swear every second word, it's like they're trying too hard to fit in or something). It also can just help to vent emotions though. Typing all this on my phone :s lol

    --
    which is totally what she said
  73. Re:So who the fuck cares by stungod · · Score: 1

    The MRI machines use super-conducting material cooled with liquid nitrogenUmm...no. MRI's are cooled with liquid helium. Much colder, and much more expensive. I used to work for an industrial gas company and we serviced several MRI centers. It was always a time-critical thing: as long as you kept liquid HE in them, they would stay cold. If an MRI runs out (delivery truck late or some such thing) it takes a lot more to bring the magnet back down to the right temp.

    Helium is freakin' expensive too. We would go to extraordinary measures in order to keep a magnet from quenching because we were on the hook for the cost of cooling it back down again if we missed a delivery.

  74. Re:So who the fuck cares by feranick · · Score: 1
  75. Re:So who the fuck cares by shaitand · · Score: 1

    "Really crap example :)"

    Maybe it was a lame example, but it fits neatly enough.

    "Words hold meaning."

    You are confusing the words with the things they represent. Words are groupings of sounds. They are attributed meaning, they don't actually have any intrinsic meaning of their own. For example, the words 'shit', 'crap', and 'excrement' all have the same meaning. All three words convey the same thing, none is any more 'proper' or 'descriptive' as you put it a couple posts ago. Yet I listed them in the order of perceived offensiveness. Are you really going to continue to claim that there is actually some form of logic that would INNATELY chose one of those groupings of sound over another?

  76. Re:So who the fuck cares by Nanpa · · Score: 0
    There are high temperature superconductors, so you CAN use Liquid Nitrogen to cool them properly, thus making the process cheaper and a lot easier (since liquid nitrogen is easier to work with). I even remember my teacher running down the street to get a bit of liquid nitrogen for a quick demonstration (With a little superconductor). From Wiki, as I am lazy:

    "Until 1986, physicists had believed that BCS theory forbade superconductivity at temperatures above about 30 K. In that year, Bednorz and Müller discovered superconductivity in a lanthanum-based cuprate perovskite material, which had a transition temperature of 35 K (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1987). It was shortly found by Paul C. W. Chu of the University of Houston and M.K. Wu at the University of Alabama in Huntsville [1] that replacing the lanthanum with yttrium, i.e. making YBCO, raised the critical temperature to 92 K, which was important because liquid nitrogen could then be used as a refrigerant (at atmospheric pressure, the boiling point of nitrogen is 77 K.) This is important commercially because liquid nitrogen can be produced cheaply on-site with no raw materials, and is not prone to some of the problems (solid air plugs, etc) of helium in piping. Many other cuprate superconductors have since been discovered, and the theory of superconductivity in these materials is one of the major outstanding challenges of theoretical condensed matter physics."
  77. Re:So who the fuck cares by Nanpa · · Score: 0

    But the door is just a pawn in this maniacal game! The real culprit... IS THE HINGES!

  78. Dial up connection...? by Hashi+Lebwohl · · Score: 1

    Will this make my dial up connection faster?

    --
    I'm in to sadism, bestiality and necrophilia. Am I flogging a dead horse?
  79. Re:So who the fuck cares by somersault · · Score: 1

    Nope, not the groupings of sound, but most words are assigned a meaning which your brain immediately gets when it hears or thinks the word (I tend to have words in my head when I think, don't know about you). It's illogical to directly compare a word, primary function conveying meaning, to a door, primary function getting through walls.

    It's a bit stupid, but when I think of shit I think of something that smells more than crap, probably because I used to hear the phrase dogshit quite a lot, so physically it's more repulsive to me anyway. Crap I think of as any dried crud like mud, even though it essentially means the same as shit. I'm not sure if words can innately sound more offensive (maybe there are some psychological studies that have looked into it), it's usually the tone that people use with them. It doesn't seem beyond the realms of possibility that certain words are just more fun or easy to say (fuck and shit both seem to start with a soft sound and roll up to a nice crisp forceful end), and therefore more likely to be used as swears. Like I find the word 'pants' funny for some reason, as do a lot of brits, and we regularly say 'oh pants'. Maybe that makes more sense over here because we call underwear pants, and therefore the word has slightly risqué connotations (though I think of the north american pants too whenever I hear the word pants).

    --
    which is totally what she said
  80. Re:So who the fuck cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    [...] this could be a jump board [...]

    Is that like a jump-to-conclusions mat?

  81. Re:So who the fuck cares by shaitand · · Score: 1

    At this point in the discussion I believe our differing views really boil down to semantics. You are really saying that a word's meaning can be offensive and do not see the word and the meaning as separate things because the purpose of a word is to express meaning. I being more utilitarian believe that a word as a separate entity from the meaning because it is separate from a technical view (a word is a grouping of sounds and need not have a fixed meaning or even be coherent) and because it is a more flexible stance.

    If I am speaking to a friend and an elderly woman overhears me say "Fuck man, I don't think we should go to that piece of shit assembly anyway."; she might then choose to be offended and will have made a choice that is not valid from the view of logic. She might even take an action, complaining to the storekeeper or slapping me. I can review the history of language and discover roots that have led to her emotional response. Her offense can in that way be understood. But simply because something can be understood does not make it logical and taking action due solely to an emotional response is always illogical.

    I can understand various popular religions and why people believe in them. If someone makes a statement that fails to give them reverence it evokes strong emotion. That doesn't mean it is not illogical to take on religious views without first following a chain of solid logic and evidence that concludes in that belief. Understanding and empathy do not change that it is illogical to speak or act based solely upon emotion or based upon a line of thinking that at any point uses the word 'feel' in an emotional sense. 'I did 'x' because after speaking with him he seemed honest enough' would be an example we can all relate to and yet is something that clearly illustrates an example of an illogical course of action and thought.

  82. Re:So who the fuck cares by doom · · Score: 1
    Nanpa (971527) wrote:
    There are high temperature superconductors,

    Of course there are, but this isn't one of them.

    Which is not to say that the result is uninteresting, but the idea that you're going to pop gadgets based on this technology inside of MRI machines is a little ahead of it's time.

  83. Re:So who the fuck cares by Nanpa · · Score: 0

    I thought they'd already incorporated high temperature superconductors into MRI's.

  84. Re:So who the fuck cares by somersault · · Score: 1

    I agree with you, though I think the phrase "That doesn't mean it is not illogical" has some redundant logic ;)

    --
    which is totally what she said