Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on new technology set to change the future of electricity

This week, Korean scientists made the claim that they had invented ‘room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductors’ – materials that can transmit electricity with zero resistance meaning we could send electricity around the world through superconductor wires and never lose any of it along the way!  Superconductors are not a new thing, and low temperature superconductors have been used for decades. Currently they need to be cooled to very low temperatures (-196 Celsius) to work making them impractical for most situations.  In their new preprint paper, the researchers say that their material LK-99, a compound of lead, copper, phosphorus and oxygen, is a superconductor at temperatures above 126 Celsius and ambient pressure which means they could be used at room temperature making them much more practical for large scale use.  To prove their discovery is real, the scientists show a video of their materials exhibiting the Meissner effect – where a sample pellet of their material was shown levitating on top of a magnet.    While this is possibly the biggest scientific discovery this decade – scientists from around the word are being cautious as they wait for the paper to be peer reviewed.  In the meantime, the Korean scientists have released their detailed recipe for making pellets of their compound encouraging other scientists to make their own to prove that it works.  If this study is true and their recipe works (which we will know in the next couple of weeks), get ready for a total revolution in the world of energy and transport.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.