Room-Temperature Superconductivity

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Time passed slowly amidst the great development and construction.

Two years later, humanity built two more nuclear fission power plants on the planet's surface. From then on, the factory's electricity problem was completely solved, and humanity's construction speed was raised to a new level.

Five years later, the first warship built by mankind, Callisto Warship, was completed, and the Space Dock began the construction phase of the second warship.

Against this backdrop, humanity, after millennia of pent-up energy, sounded the clarion call for large-scale industry. New energy frameworks, new materials, new Artificial Intelligence algorithms, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and chemical technology—scientists unleashed their imaginations and showcased their talents in their respective fields.

Under such circumstances, the technology of small nuclear fission devices was successfully developed by humankind.

Correspondingly, the original powered exoskeleton technology has also been updated, with the Industrial Department proposing to replace traditional batteries with small Nuclear Fission Battery and then combine them with Spacesuit.

The emergence of this technology will greatly reduce the difficulty of human landing operations on planets in the early stages.

Seeing all the technological advancements, Yue Yuan was naturally delighted, but what excited him most was the breakthrough in materials technology.

So as soon as he heard the news, Yue Yuan immediately put down his other work and rushed to Xu Zhenyi's team's research institute.

"Professor Xu, Room-Temperature Superconductivity really been achieved?" Yue Yuan went straight to Xu Zhenyi's office as soon as he stepped into the research institute.

"Chief Yue, it's room temperature and pressure superconductivity." Xu Zhenyi put down the document in his hand, turned around and corrected meticulously.

Seven years have passed, and Xu Zhenyi looks a bit older, but he still looks very energetic.

"Yes, yes, yes! Let's go take a look!" Yue Yuan said, pulling Xu Zhenyi to the laboratory to see what this Room-Temperature Superconductivity looked like.

Although Yue Yuan knew about the phenomenon of superconductivity, he still couldn't resist wanting to see it with his own eyes.

"No need, I have it right now." Xu Zhenyi said, pulling open his desk drawer and taking out a piece of something that was dark in color but had a metallic sheen.

"This is the superconducting material synthesized in the laboratory. See its overall length?"

Xu Zhenyi then took out a large permanent magnet from another drawer. After placing the magnet on the table, he slowly placed the superconducting material in his hand onto the magnet.

As he released his grip, the thick, dark material, just as Yue Yuan had expected, floated on the magnet. However, because Xu Zhenyi had applied some force to it, the material was not completely still but was now spinning.

In a great mood Yue Yuan reached out and tried it a few times.

It is known that, according to the principle of electromagnetic interaction, a conductor will generate an electric current when the external magnetic field changes. Superconductors, because they have no resistance, will not experience a decrease in this current.

According to Lenz's law, the magnetic field generated by these currents will resist changes in the magnetic field, resulting in the superconductor's Magnetic Flux remaining constant.

If a magnet is placed next to a superconductor that has no current and no magnetic field, the superconductor will inevitably cause the Magnetic Flux inside the superconductor to become zero. At this point, the superconductor will generate its own magnetic field, which will cancel out the magnetic field of the magnet. If the magnet is a permanent magnet, then the two magnets will repel each other.

In the case of a superconductor, a magnetic field is generated by the ring current inside it, which then repels the magnetic field of the magnet. This manifests macroscopically as the superconductor suspending above the magnet.

Yue Yuan fiddled with the superconductor for a few moments, then looked at Xu Zhenyi, "Professor Xu, was this synthesized by chance, or..."

"Don't worry, Chief of Staff," Xu Zhenyi replied immediately, as if he knew what Yue Yuan was going to say. "The entire experimental process can be reproduced. We've tried it many times, and there are no problems."

"That's good." Yue Yuan's face showed a long-lost smile. If the experiment could be reproduced, it meant that it wasn't something that was accidentally created like opening a blind box for "alchemy".

It looks like we can start calling him Academician Xu next year.

"How malleable is this thing? How much fluctuation is there in the environment where superconductivity occurs? Is there any possibility of large-scale production?" Yue Yuan asked a series of questions.

"Not as good as copper, but better than aluminum, it's somewhere in between. Its superconducting properties exist over a wide temperature range, roughly between -269°C and 76°C, and at pressures between 0.1 and 1.6 atmospheres. Beyond this range, the conductor will generate resistance. These are the specific parameters." Xu Zhenyi answered while opening a file on his computer desk.

He knew why Yue Yuan asked about ductility. Metals or alloys with good ductility can be used as wires. The ductility of this superconducting material is between that of copper and aluminum, which perfectly meets this requirement.

Xu Zhenyi turned the computer screen toward Yue Yuan and continued, "Theoretically, this material already has the potential for large-scale production because our laboratory already knows its precise molecular formula and the specific parameters of each process in its preparation. However, large-scale production is not comparable to laboratory production. The Chief should ask the Ministry of Industry for more information."

Yue Yuan nodded; he understood what Xu Zhenyi meant.

For something to go from being produced in a laboratory to being mass-produced, there must be a process involved. Even if the laboratory provides parameters for each step, actual industrial production is not simply a matter of scaling up the laboratory equipment and materials.

"Although it's a matter for the Ministry of Industry, the position of production consultant still needs to be filled by you, Professor Xu, since no one is more familiar with superconductivity than you." Yue Yuan affirmed Xu Zhenyi's words and suggested that he take on the position of production consultant.

He has already started to envision the future.

The emergence of room-temperature and room-pressure superconductivity will bring about a technological revolution across all fields.

With the application of superconducting materials, the Hope will inevitably undergo a major overhaul, including various circuits, components in all kinds of equipment, and even the thruster coils. The recently completed Callisto Warship will also require upgrades, at least replacing all heat-generating and loss-generating components with superconducting materials.

The fact that there is no transmission loss of electrical energy is such a wonderful thing. In the future, the energy loss of the Hope will be reduced to almost zero. The most direct and intuitive manifestation of this is that the power of the thrusters will be increased again, and humanity will have the opportunity to break the speed limit of 1% of the speed of light.

Moreover, with superconductivity already developed, Controlled Nuclear Fusion can't be far behind! It's worth noting that humanity nearly succeeded in Controlled Nuclear Fusion back in Earth Era. If we can bring this technology back to Earth Era's level, then Controlled Nuclear Fusion can be realized.

Of course, humanity still needs some time.

"By the way, Professor Xu, do you still remember Silver Mist?" Yue Yuan suddenly looked up from the computer screen and asked Xu Zhenyi.

"I'll never forget this in my life!" Xu Zhenyi's face showed a hint of lingering fear when he spoke of 'Silver Mist'. He sighed and asked, "Commander, are you referring to the thermal imaging of 'Silver Mist'?"

Yue Yuan nodded.

The success of superconductivity reminded him of that scene from years ago.

When humans used thermal imaging to scan the Silver Mist, they found that the Silver Mist did not generate any heat, whether it was in flight or in a lurking state.

At that time, he wondered what the reason was, and now he thinks it must be superconductivity.

"It should be superconductivity, and the temperature and pressure range is much larger than ours, but I prefer to believe that it's not caused by superconductivity." A hint of fear appeared in Xu Zhenyi's eyes. He sighed deeply to calm himself down, and then continued, "Because I really can't imagine how superconductivity works at the nanoscale, no, it should be at the picometer level. Can you imagine? That kind of technological capability is truly despairing!"