Scientists set new temperature record for superconductivity

Damn hot

An international team of scientists has built a superconductor that operates at 250 Kelvin, or -23 degrees Celsius – or just 9 degrees Fahrenheit.

That's a few degrees lower than the coldest winter day in Florida's history, but it's nearly 50 degrees Celsius (84.6 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the previous record of superconductivity – and puts the "Holy Grail" of energy transmission within our reach.

Wasted energy

Discovered for the first time in 1911, superconductors are devices capable of driving electricity with zero resistance.

Since no part of the energy is lost during the transmission process, superconductors could allow us to produce electricity at a given location – a solar farm in a sunny part of the United States, for example – and send it everywhere without wasting anything.

The problem is that scientists have not yet created a practical superconductor: all devices require extreme conditions, such as frosty temperatures and incredibly high pressures, which limits their usefulness.

Super discovery

That's why scientists around the world are looking for a superconductor that works at room temperature – and this new study, published Wednesday in the newspaper Nature, represents a giant step forward in this effort.

Scientists describe how they created a type of material called lanthanum superhydride. By exerting enormous pressure on a little of the material, they managed to convince him to play the role of superconductor at a record temperature.

"Our next goal is to reduce the pressure needed to synthesize samples, bring the critical temperature closer to room temperature, and perhaps even create samples that can be synthesized at high pressures, but still superconducting at normal pressures." , said researcher Vitali Prakapenka of the University of Chicago said in a press release.

READ MORE: Scientists beat high temperature superconductor record [University of Chicago]

More on superconductors: A US patent on a superconductor at room temperature