How superconductors could change everything

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The holy grail of physics. That's how big this is. A group of South Korean scientists claims to have discovered the world's first superconductor that works at room temperature and normal pressure. Dubbed LK-99, the breakthrough could render present-day power networks as outdated as the telegraph. It changes the way we harness electricity and employ transportation.

Unfortunately, LK-99 has since been disproven. But if the technology were theoretically possible and commercially manufacturable, it would revolutionize the world from top to bottom, making it one of the most important scientific discoveries of our time. Picture floating trains that accelerate at high speeds, or flying cars that travel along invisible magnetic tracks. And yes, the levitating hoverboards seen in the movies.

And even though LK-99 is not the superconductor it was briefly hyped to be, that hasn't stopped investors from taking bets. Stocks tied to relevant technologies have jumped anywhere between 10% and 30%, with the company American Superconductor climbing as high as 60%.

Room-temperature superconductors would herald a world of energy abundance, but also game-changing geostrategic transformations. We would see new types of magnetized weaponry and the military exploits that come with it. A room-temperature superconductor is a once-in-a-lifetime quill that can redraw the geopolitical map. Essentially, the nations that wield the innovation today will inherit the world of tomorrow.

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A superconductor is a material that can convey an electrical current without any resistance, meaning it can transmit power with perfect efficiency and do so indefinitely. For comparison, all electrical cables have electrical resistance. A small amount of power is lost between one end of the line and the other. Meanwhile, modern batteries can lose up to a quarter of stored energy over time. This is why smartphones and computers overheat.

A superconductor would put a stop to that. So if the technology sounds like science fiction, that's because it is.

Ordinarily, electrons cannot pass easily through solid material because they bounce off vibrating atoms in the structure. But in some materials, at temperatures near absolute zero, the electrons form loosely bound overlapping pairs. And these can't be deflected without breaking the pair.

When the settings are near absolute zero, the vibrations aren't strong enough to do that. So these electrons glide through the material unimpeded.

Mercury, tin, lead, niobium, and dozens of elemental alloys can turn into superconductors when chilled to near absolute zero. In and of itself, the technology is not that remarkable. Conventional superconductors can only operate in low temperature and high pressure settings, environments that have more in common with outer space than our planet. This then limits the practical applications of conventional superconductors. And even in devices where they are applied, conventional superconductors require substantial power to remain cool.

Room temperature superconductors, meanwhile, operate in typical everyday settings. In theory, that is. The quest for this breakthrough has been ongoing for decades. The South Korean LK-99 is not it. International efforts to reproduce the results have fallen short. So the whole thing is fake, intentional or not. But let's suppose for a moment that LK-99 was the real deal. After all, physicists and material scientists around the globe are drawn to room temperature superconductors precisely because of their revolutionary applications. If the scientific community has theoretical evidence that superconductors are viable and the material is mass produced within two decades, it would change the world as we know it. Foremost, the way we harness electricity would undergo fundamental reshaping. The existing power grid leaks around 10% of energy in transmission. In the United States, for example, about 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity are wasted on transmission losses. That's equal to the output of America's three largest nuclear reactors running 24-7.

With room temperature superconductors, we would have perfect power lines, which would save billions of dollars in energy costs, while also reducing carbon emissions and boosting the growth of renewable technologies. Infrastructure worldwide would change. Nuclear power plants could be redesigned, making them more secure and durable. Data centers would consume less power. Electric vehicles could drive over longer distances. Consumer electronics wouldn't overheat, and batteries could hold current indefinitely without maintenance costs. But, it gets crazier. Room temperature superconductors could lead to new public transportation designs, such as magnetically levitated trains that travel at record-breaking speeds with perfect energy efficiency. People could travel from America's east coast to its west coast in 20 minutes flat. Distance would no longer be an obstacle, and international trade and intercity travel would change dramatically as a result. Shipping costs could be reduced, since transportation-related emissions would drop. The globe would become even smaller than it already has, and more globalized for what it's worth. Room temperature superconductors could also boost the development of quantum computers, which is currently in its nascent phases, and fail when slightly overheating.