Slashdot Mirror


Did A US Navy Scientist Just Invent A Room-Temperature Superconductor? (phys.org)

"A scientist working for the U.S. Navy has filed for a patent on a room-temperature superconductor, representing a potential paradigm shift in energy transmission and computer systems," reports Phys.org: Salvatore Cezar Pais is listed as the inventor on the Navy's patent application made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday. The application claims that a room-temperature superconductor can be built using a wire with an insulator core and an aluminum PZT (lead zirconate titanate) coating deposited by vacuum evaporation with a thickness of the London penetration depth and polarized after deposition.

An electromagnetic coil is circumferentially positioned around the coating such that when the coil is activated with a pulsed current, a non-linear vibration is induced, enabling room temperature superconductivity. "This concept enables the transmission of electrical power without any losses and exhibits optimal thermal management (no heat dissipation)," according to the patent document, "which leads to the design and development of novel energy generation and harvesting devices with enormous benefits to civilization."

Long-time Slashdot reader resistant writes: NextBigFuture says the same individual appears to have made other startling claims that arguably stretch the boundaries of belief, such as a "high-frequency gravitational wave generator" that could supposedly drive a spaceship without conventional propellants as well as an "inertial mass reduction device." Prudence would appear to dictate examining these and other claims by Mr. Salvatore Cezar Pais with great caution.

4 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Considering his other claims... by willaien · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "high-frequency gravitational wave generator"

    So, basically, no. Sounds like a crank.

    1. Re:Considering his other claims... by iggymanz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      spinning large mass around would make gravitomagnetic waves, but for making gravity waves take two large masses and spin them around each other. Detectable or useful? No. But this article's crank claims to make useful amounts which is nonsense.

    2. Re: Considering his other claims... by careysub · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It was possible to design and build LIGO, and detect extremely distant gravitational wave generating events, and figure out the masses of the two objects, and the amount of gravitational energy produced as the merged, and produce charts of the emission history, because we do know a lot about gravity. We don't know everything about gravity, but saying that we have "barely begun to grasp" it seems way off base.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  2. Repeatable by other scientists or it didn't happen by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If this guy wants to be taken seriously then he needs to publish a paper that describes the science and the methods thoroughly enough that other scientists can design (an) experiment(s) to confirm the validity. 'Patents' mean nothing. 'Demonstrations' don't mean shit either. Repeatable and explainable by others independently is the only thing that counts.