Quantum Levitation [YouTube]
Check out this video – a superconductor "locked" in a magnetic field.
I've seen a similar demonstration in the past, but I don't think they used nearly as large of an object.
Tags: quantum levitation, superconductor, video, youtube
Cactus Joe said,
is that some kind of disc covered in dry ice to keep it cold? maybe superconducting rail would work in the arctic? seasonally of course, and before global warming gets really bad. i wish they would focus more effort on superconduction at normal temperatures.
October 20, 2011 @ 8:42 am
sparx said,
It's a super-thin superconductor cooled with liquid nitrogen.
The video description has a link to this page: http://www.quantumlevitation.com/levitation/The_physics.html explaining things a bit.
"We start with a single crystal sapphire wafer and coat it with a thin (~1µm thick) ceramic material called yttrium barium copper oxide (YBa2Cu3O7-x ). The ceramic layer has no interesting magnetic or electrical properties at room temperature. However, when cooled below -185ºC (-301ºF) the material becomes a superconductor. It conducts electricity without resistance, with no energy loss. Zero."
There's also a longer video at http://www.quantumlevitation.com/levitation/See_it_in_Action.html
October 20, 2011 @ 9:06 am
Cactus Joe said,
You would think if they know how to generate electricity with no energy loss, then a time machine shouldn't be that difficult. Or at least a transporter type thing like in Star Trek. It's probably just a matter of size. Like the huge wormhole transport device used in the movie CONTACT. I'll bet you that involved some superconduction…
October 20, 2011 @ 9:23 am
sparx said,
I don't think they know how to /generate/ electricity with no loss.
A superconductor just lets it flow through it with absolutely no resistance, and therefore no loss.
And apparently the darn things let us experiment with bizarre quantum forces.
October 20, 2011 @ 11:31 am
unlikelymoose said,
Watching that makes me hungry for a York Peppermint Pattie. Why did they take the chocolate off theirs?
November 17, 2011 @ 8:19 am
sparx said,
Quantum physics cannot explain chocolate.
November 17, 2011 @ 8:26 am