Michael J Fox's 'Back to the Future' hoverboard could be a step closer. Photo / Supplied
Dr Michelle Dickinson, also known as Nanogirl, is an Auckland University nanotechnologist who is passionate about getting Kiwis hooked on
science. Tweet her your science questions @medickinson.
Superconductivity research stinks! Rotorua, famous for its lake, geyser and distinctive smell, may have been hiding a secret resource for years. Often described as smelling like rotten eggs, the stinky volcanic gas is actually hydrogen sulphide and this week researchers published in the journal Nature that it could become one
of the most important discoveries to change how we generate and transmit electricity.
We know that metal wires heat up when we pass electricity through them; you only need to watch birds warming their toes outside your window as they hang out on the power lines to witness this phenomenon. This heat loss results in up to 15 per cent of the electricity generated being lost into the environment through the wires that transfer it, making the current process of getting power across the world an inefficient one.
Since the 1980s New Zealand has been at the forefront of trying to solve this power loss problem, thanks to Macdiarmid Institute researchers Dr Bob Buckley and Dr Jeff Tallon, who have led the development and patented research on materials known as high temperature superconductors. They have won the Prime Minister's Science Prize for superconductor research, with an emphasis on commercialisation of new types of electricity transferring wires. Superconductors are also crucial to MRI machines and levitation technologies like the Maglev train in Japan, thanks to their Meissner levitation effect with magnets.
What makes superconductors so exciting is that they can conduct electricity with no energy loss when cooled below a critical temperature. In the case of high temperature superconductors they still require liquid helium chilling down to a frigid -140C, but once there the single electricity-carrying electrons join up to form Coopers pairs, which move easily through the material without scattering or losing energy. The temperature requirement is one issue, but current superconductors are also limited by being made from exotic materials including barium, yttrium and cuprate containing copper - not exactly things you can buy at the supermarket.
