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First Superconducting Transistor Created

holy_calamity writes "New Scientist reports that the first working superconducting transistor has been created, by researchers at the University of Geneva. Field effect transistors with zero electrical resistance would allow much faster operations. Only drawback is they need to be supercooled, something that may be addressed by improving the materials used."

10 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Liquid cooling? by cjfs · · Score: 4, Funny

    At 0.3 kelvin - just above absolute zero - these electrons flow without resistance and so create a superconductor.

    So my stock fan won't quite cut it this time?

    1. Re:Liquid cooling? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hear that "whooshing" sound? It's not a fan.

    2. Re:Liquid cooling? by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 2, Funny

      <McKay>Shut up, Nye!</McKay>

      Besides, all we have to do is pump the heat into another universe through a wormhole bridge!

      --
      Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
  2. blend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    but will it blend?

  3. Re:Gift for understatement by Smidge207 · · Score: 2, Funny

    We're still decades (centuries?) [sic] away from room temperature superconductors.

    Why would that be? After all, cold-fusion is already a reality!

    =Smidge=

    --
    Is it just my observation, or is eldavojohn an idiot?
  4. Re:Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer do... by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm thinking "The Blue Quench of Death", myself.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  5. Re:Bad timetable. by aztektum · · Score: 4, Funny

    So you're saying we could have something to market in 5 but possibly up to 10 years?

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    :: aztek ::
    No sig for you!!
  6. Re:Gift for understatement by hotdiggitydawg · · Score: 3, Funny

    Back in the 80s, I remember LN pricing (in commercial/industrial quantities) being around $0.05 per liter (roughly $0.20 per US gallon). This FAQ suggests that the price is now around $0.50 per gallon in quantity.

    ...which makes it significantly cheaper than gasoline. Here's a thought: I wonder how much energy is released as it boils, and how that compares to a gasoline combustion engine. Sure, maybe we'd need more liquid volume, but it's cheaper per unit volume... and its not a Greenhouse gas either - it's 79% of the atmosphere already!

  7. Re:Gift for understatement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I don't like liquid nitrogen. It hurts my teeth.

  8. Re:Gift for understatement by Genda · · Score: 2, Funny

    He's concerned about the safety of using a supercooled computer to control his home fast-breeder reactor