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Joe Snodgrass
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Iron Compounds Require Red Wine, Beer or Saki
http://tinyurl.com/3g9g8jv
Yoshihiko Takano (R), professor of Japan's National Institute for
Material Science and researcher Keita Deguchi display a
superconductive metal compound, which is seven times higher when
dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water at his laboratory in
Tsukuba city, suburban Tokyo. The researchers plan to showcase their
surprise findings later this year.
Japanese scientists at a boozy office party stumbled across a
discovery they hope will help revolutionise efficient energy
transmission one day: red wine makes a metal compound
superconductive.
The researchers plan to showcase their surprise findings later this
year, the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the phenomenon of
superconductivity, the zero-loss flow of electricity through certain
materials.
The "eureka" moment came when National Institute for Materials Science
researchers found that an iron-based compound became superconductive
after being soaked in alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine and sake.
Red wine was the hands-down winner in producing the desired physical
effect, although no-one is quite clear yet on how exactly it worked,
said researchers at the institute in Tsukuba, east of Tokyo.
The ratio at which compounds became superconductive was seven times
higher when dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water. It was four
times higher for white wine and three times higher for beer, sake and
whisky.
"The better it tastes, the more effective it is," the institute's lead
researcher Yoshihiko Takano said, while allowing that taste is
subjective.
"There may be a connection between the substance we humans sense as a
taste and the substance that induces superconductivity.
"It is as if a detective was tracking down the culprit in a suspense
story -- the guy is in the glass, but we still don't know if he is
acting alone or conspiring with others."
The team hopes the find will help in the quest to one day unleash the
potential of superconductivity to build power infrastructure that
reduces energy use and mankind's reliance on climate-changing fossil
fuels.
When an electric current passes through a conductor such as copper and
silver, part of the charge is lost as heat, a loss that increases with
the distance the charge travels.
In superconductivity -- first discovered in mercury in 1911 --
electrical resistance suddenly drops to zero in some metals when they
are cooled to near absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius, -459
Fahrenheit).
This also produces a strong magnetic field -- an effect which has
found applications, including in MRI body scanners.
To achieve zero-loss power transmission now, cables encased in tubes
can be cooled with liquid nitrogen to make them superconductive -- but
the complex and expensive technology has not been commercially used on
a large scale.
Power companies have run only small-scale and pilot projects.
"The better it tastes, the more effective it is," institute's lead
researcher Yoshihiko Takano says
Enlarge
Yoshihiko Takano, professor of Japan's National Institute for Material
Science, displays a superconductive metal compound, which is seven
times higher when dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water at his
laboratory in Tsukuba city, suburban Tokyo. The researchers plan to
showcase their surprise findings later this year.
The dream is, however, to one day find materials that can become
superconductors at room temperature, which would allow zero-loss
transmission of power over vast distances.
"This may sound like the stuff of dreams, but electricity generated by
solar power in the Gobi desert (of China and Mongolia) could be
transported to the other side of the globe," said Takano.
"The sun is always shining somewhere on Earth, and the dream is for
electricity to be transported to far-away places with no power loss.
"Imagine there is a ring of superconductive cables along the equator
with solar cells attached at certain places. If there were branches,
clean electricity could be dispatched to the remotest rural areas."
Mamoru Mohri, a former astronaut who heads the National Museum of
Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, said advances in
superconductivity could ring in "an era in which we don't have to burn
as much fossil fuel".
Takano's team made their discovery when they put tablets of an iron-
based compound called Fe(Te,S) into alcoholic drinks at an office
party a year ago.
The team found that after being soaked for 24 hours in red wine or
other alcoholic beverages, the compound became superconductive when
cooled to about minus 265 degrees Celcius (minus 445 Fahrenheit).
Takano plans to present his findings at a European conference in
September in The Hague, near Leiden where Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
discovered superconductivity 100 years ago.
Reiji Ogino, power-industry analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley
Securities, said the hunt for new electricity transmission methods has
sped up as the world looks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"I'm looking forward to seeing a technical breakthrough," Ogino said
-- but he cautioned that it remains unclear how much it would cost to
replace existing transmission networks.
Tomoaki Fujii, who heads equity research at Morningstar Japan, said
superconductivity is "a technology with high expectations", but said
that it is "a bit too early" to start buying related stocks just now.
"We haven't seen superconductivity used for electricity transmission
even 100 years after it was discovered," he said. "And we would have
to see how smoothly it could actually be utilised".
http://tinyurl.com/3g9g8jv
Yoshihiko Takano (R), professor of Japan's National Institute for
Material Science and researcher Keita Deguchi display a
superconductive metal compound, which is seven times higher when
dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water at his laboratory in
Tsukuba city, suburban Tokyo. The researchers plan to showcase their
surprise findings later this year.
Japanese scientists at a boozy office party stumbled across a
discovery they hope will help revolutionise efficient energy
transmission one day: red wine makes a metal compound
superconductive.
The researchers plan to showcase their surprise findings later this
year, the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the phenomenon of
superconductivity, the zero-loss flow of electricity through certain
materials.
The "eureka" moment came when National Institute for Materials Science
researchers found that an iron-based compound became superconductive
after being soaked in alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine and sake.
Red wine was the hands-down winner in producing the desired physical
effect, although no-one is quite clear yet on how exactly it worked,
said researchers at the institute in Tsukuba, east of Tokyo.
The ratio at which compounds became superconductive was seven times
higher when dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water. It was four
times higher for white wine and three times higher for beer, sake and
whisky.
"The better it tastes, the more effective it is," the institute's lead
researcher Yoshihiko Takano said, while allowing that taste is
subjective.
"There may be a connection between the substance we humans sense as a
taste and the substance that induces superconductivity.
"It is as if a detective was tracking down the culprit in a suspense
story -- the guy is in the glass, but we still don't know if he is
acting alone or conspiring with others."
The team hopes the find will help in the quest to one day unleash the
potential of superconductivity to build power infrastructure that
reduces energy use and mankind's reliance on climate-changing fossil
fuels.
When an electric current passes through a conductor such as copper and
silver, part of the charge is lost as heat, a loss that increases with
the distance the charge travels.
In superconductivity -- first discovered in mercury in 1911 --
electrical resistance suddenly drops to zero in some metals when they
are cooled to near absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius, -459
Fahrenheit).
This also produces a strong magnetic field -- an effect which has
found applications, including in MRI body scanners.
To achieve zero-loss power transmission now, cables encased in tubes
can be cooled with liquid nitrogen to make them superconductive -- but
the complex and expensive technology has not been commercially used on
a large scale.
Power companies have run only small-scale and pilot projects.
"The better it tastes, the more effective it is," institute's lead
researcher Yoshihiko Takano says
Enlarge
Yoshihiko Takano, professor of Japan's National Institute for Material
Science, displays a superconductive metal compound, which is seven
times higher when dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water at his
laboratory in Tsukuba city, suburban Tokyo. The researchers plan to
showcase their surprise findings later this year.
The dream is, however, to one day find materials that can become
superconductors at room temperature, which would allow zero-loss
transmission of power over vast distances.
"This may sound like the stuff of dreams, but electricity generated by
solar power in the Gobi desert (of China and Mongolia) could be
transported to the other side of the globe," said Takano.
"The sun is always shining somewhere on Earth, and the dream is for
electricity to be transported to far-away places with no power loss.
"Imagine there is a ring of superconductive cables along the equator
with solar cells attached at certain places. If there were branches,
clean electricity could be dispatched to the remotest rural areas."
Mamoru Mohri, a former astronaut who heads the National Museum of
Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, said advances in
superconductivity could ring in "an era in which we don't have to burn
as much fossil fuel".
Takano's team made their discovery when they put tablets of an iron-
based compound called Fe(Te,S) into alcoholic drinks at an office
party a year ago.
The team found that after being soaked for 24 hours in red wine or
other alcoholic beverages, the compound became superconductive when
cooled to about minus 265 degrees Celcius (minus 445 Fahrenheit).
Takano plans to present his findings at a European conference in
September in The Hague, near Leiden where Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
discovered superconductivity 100 years ago.
Reiji Ogino, power-industry analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley
Securities, said the hunt for new electricity transmission methods has
sped up as the world looks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"I'm looking forward to seeing a technical breakthrough," Ogino said
-- but he cautioned that it remains unclear how much it would cost to
replace existing transmission networks.
Tomoaki Fujii, who heads equity research at Morningstar Japan, said
superconductivity is "a technology with high expectations", but said
that it is "a bit too early" to start buying related stocks just now.
"We haven't seen superconductivity used for electricity transmission
even 100 years after it was discovered," he said. "And we would have
to see how smoothly it could actually be utilised".