Europium's Superconductivity Demonstrated 103
gabrlknght writes "An old element just learned a new trick under pressure. When cooled and squeezed very hard, the soft metallic element europium turns into a superconductor, allowing electrons to flow unfettered by resistance, a study appearing May 13 in Physical Review Letters shows. The results make europium the 53rd of the 92 naturally occurring elements to possess superconductivity, which, if harnessed, could make for more efficient energy transfer."
Re:First post (Score:4, Insightful)
There are new, mediocre discoveries every day but they're never heard about except in some dusty journal.
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There are new, mediocre discoveries every day but they're never heard about except in some dusty journal.
That's unfair!
Not every journal published by Elsevier [newsinferno.com] is dusty. Some, like the famous Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, are bright, shiny things...
...oooh! Shiny...
Re:First post -- dead wrong (Score:1, Insightful)
Sorry, but I bet a lot of other scientists, perhaps a few on this board, are getting sick of science hype, and discoveries that "if" we can really do this, and then "if" we can also do that (no clue how to do that) and a few other ifs, we can change the world in only 5 more years.
Every minor discovery, or in a lot of cases, rediscovery by those who didn't do their homework is endlessly touted as the great new thing, especially in nanotech, but in other fields as well. A recent example is the "discovery" or
It isn't better (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It isn't better (Score:5, Insightful)
"Superconductivity is an area where it's very difficult theoretically to have the last word, to really know what's possible and what's not.... Anything one can do to further the understanding of superconductivity might eventually help one design a better superconductor."
In essence we don't know what superconductors can do, but if we try different stuff eventually we will find something useful. That's why it's worth doing.
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In essence we don't know what superconductors can do, but if we try different stuff eventually we will find something useful. That's why it's worth doing.
Not quite. We know what superconductors are, what they do, and how they can be used. We have many incredible uses for a superconductor, with the most obvious being levitating magnets and zero-loss power transmission. What we don't know is why certain metals under certain conditions become superconductors. Once we know that, we can start to design usable (higher temperature, lower pressure) superconductors, rather than simply stumbling across them ocassionally at
Basically, we need to do all this resear
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happened with other SCs as well (Score:4, Informative)
Granted, it doesn't mention Europium, but the same principle applies.
Re:happened with other SCs as well (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:happened with other SCs as well (Score:5, Funny)
Your temperature scale is clearly incorrect.
As it regards cold, it goes from Chilly, to Cold, to Freezing, eventually reaching Ridiculously Cold, Unbelievably Cold and Impossibly Cold.
oh wait, are you using the imperial system of verbal measurement? Never mind.
Re:happened with other SCs as well (Score:5, Funny)
Wake me when someone reaches Plaid Cold.
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Doubtless that will be the case with the element plaidinum.
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....and you still wouldn't be near a superconductor. Even the best "high-temperature" superconductors are below the coldest of cold we've measured naturally, even the people on antarctic science stations - not that I think they'd be outside in -90C/-130F anyway. What they're good for now is neat and all but if we could find a room temperature superconductor it'd be a revolution.
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....and you still wouldn't be near a superconductor. Even the best "high-temperature" superconductors are below the coldest of cold we've measured naturally
How about the surface of Titan. Isn't that "measured naturally"?
Re:happened with other SCs as well (Score:5, Funny)
oh noooo. That was measured with lasers!
Re:happened with other SCs as well (Score:5, Funny)
Please no jokes about sticking a thermometer up Uranus.
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You forgot Brrrrrrrr, the temperature at which animated characters freeze instantly. Sometimes they shatter or break into ice cubes of course.
Re:happened with other SCs as well (Score:5, Funny)
> As it regards cold, it goes from Chilly, to Cold, to Freezing, eventually reaching Ridiculously Cold, Unbelievably Cold and Impossibly Cold.
I'm Canadian you insensitive clod. I'd still be in shorts and a t-shirt.
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Re:happened with other SCs as well (Score:4, Funny)
In certain circles where greater accuracy is required its common to use a finer precision in the jump from Freezing to Ridiculously Cold.
This is done by having Bloody Freezing and F*****ing Freezing as additional points on the scale.
Fuzzy math... (Score:2)
After factoring in the cost of compressing and cooling a big long cable... In other words, not any time soon.
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"When cooled and squeezed very hard, the soft metallic element europium turns into a superconductor ... which, if harnessed, could make for more efficient energy transfer."
After factoring in the cost of compressing and cooling a big long cable... In other words, not any time soon.
Superconductivity can be harnessed for efficient energy transfer. It's a boilerplate that is attached to any research associated with superconductivity to remind the general public whe they're spending millions of dollars on things which aren't available as direct dividends to their lives.
Re:Fuzzy math... (Score:5, Funny)
I figure the real benefit from research isn't the discoveries, its the economic benefit of decent, well-paying jobs in a pleasant park-like campus.
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One could've said similar things about semiconductors.
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"When cooled and squeezed very hard, the soft metallic element europium turns into a superconductor ... which, if harnessed, could make for more efficient energy transfer."
After factoring in the cost of compressing and cooling a big long cable... In other words, not any time soon.
Superconductivity can be harnessed for efficient energy transfer. It's a boilerplate that is attached to any research associated with superconductivity to remind the general public whe they're spending millions of dollars on things which aren't available as direct dividends to their lives.
....hmmmmm, let's see: do you have gym shoes with velcro closure? that was an invention for the apollo program, to avoid having things fly in the capsule. I expect someone at the time said the same thing: "what's the use of sending people to the moon anyway?"
As to High temperature superconducting, [wikipedia.org] the key temperature is the boiling point ofliquid nitrogen, which is relatively cheap and inert. AFAIK, superconducting power cables are in use now. [amsc.com]
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After factoring in the cost of compressing and cooling a big long cable... In other words, not any time soon
Well considering the current "system loss" (generation and transmission losses) is between 25 and 30%, all a superconductor would have to do is consume *less* than that percentage to be more efficient.
Now we've heard a lot about superconductors, but what if there is a potential for super-insulators, i.e. materials with the property not to conduct *any* electrons, EM radiation or heat in any form.
Cool
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i.e. materials with the property not to conduct *any* electrons, EM radiation or heat in any form.
I think the law of thermodynamics might have a thing or two to say on the subject of that idea.
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800,000 BAR (~14.5 PSI) = 11,600,000 PSI.
There shouldn't be any problem finding a compressor capable of such pressures used on ebay.
When squeezed, europium gives up resistance? (Score:2, Funny)
What, is it French?
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Last time I checked somethink like 88% of we Europeans weren't French.
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80 GPa (Score:5, Funny)
80 giga-pascals of pressure? Could be useful for deep-sea power transmission. You only need to go 8000km deep to get that pressure naturally.
Re:80 GPa (Score:5, Funny)
That would be about 1620km past the center of the earth...
rj
Re:80 GPa (Score:5, Funny)
Even better. If you went at it from the other side you'd only have to go down 6380km, much easier.
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That would be about 1620km past the center of the earth...
I hear the 2.0 is a lot bigger. It's also only 6000 years old, and never ages any further.
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What's funny about being told that the world is millions of years old when in fact it's only a hundred and fifty-seven years old -- fact! -- and its age does not change?
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Maybe OP is talking about after we've colonized Jupiter? :)
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The deepest part of the ocean is about 9.7 km, has pressure of about 110-mega-pascals, and a temperature of about 2 degrees Celsius. So you're off by about 3 orders of magnitude in every measurement :)
Re:80 GPa (Score:4, Funny)
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You sound like a Congressman discussing the budget.
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What's a few orders of magnitude between friends?
You sound like a Congressman discussing the budget.
or an MP discussing their expenses claim ...
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...and the barman says "I'm sorry, we've run out of magnitudes"...
(yeah I'm tired... consider this beginnings of a joke gpl'd, patches welcome)
Element Abuse (Score:5, Funny)
"An old element just learned a new trick under pressure"
This is an example of Element abuse! An OLD element, FORCED to learn a new trick, UNDER PRESSURE no doubt!
Stop the madness, leave the poor elements alone, especially the old ones.
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(From my undergraduate physical chemistry prof)
Extreme Hazard (Score:4, Funny)
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On the other hand, it might teach the pesky Americum [wikipedia.org] and the Americum based chemistry to obey the laws. That'd push civilization forward a thousand and one years.
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Unlike Europium, Americium is unstable and doesn't last very long.
Cool. Where's my Europium mine? (Score:2)
RS
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>> We'll need billions of tons of the stuff to replace the present wiring infrastructure
Actually, no. To replace a 1cm thick copper cable you do NOT need a 1cm thick superconductor. I'm sure there's limits, but because there's no electrical resistance you can carry HUGE currents through tiny superconductors. We're talking several orders of magnitude difference here.
Anyone have a real numerical comparison handy?
MadCow
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Surpsingly [imagesco.com] complicated [open.ac.uk], couldn't find any simple practical answers. Sorry. I did find some nifty pictures [aip.org] though.
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No numbers, but heres a picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CERN-cables-p1030764.jpg [wikipedia.org]
Not cost effective. (Score:2)
The point is that even if large quantities of electricity could be transmitted, we still would need large amounts of Europium. There simply isn't enough to use in transmission cables. I don't have figures on how rare it is but it is one of the "rare earth minerals". That should give you a clue. Even if enough could be obtained, what is the cost to mine enough. It doesn't sound very cost effective to me.
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"Rare Earth" is a misnomer, and very very old terminology. Lanthanoids [wikipedia.org] are actually very common. Cerium is even the 26th most abundant element in the earth's crust (higher than gold, and we use a LOT of gold). Europium is used as a red phosphor in old TV sets and flourescent lamps.
These elements are in fact fairly abundant in nature, although rare as compared to the "common" earths such as lime or magnesia.
You realize lime is so abundant we use it in concrete, right? "Rare earths" are only rare in relation to extremely common elements. You could say they are on the rare side of common, if you like.
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Gee... (Score:4, Interesting)
Gee...I got all excited there for a moment. Until I read:
"The results make europium the 53rd of the 92 naturally occurring elements to possess superconductivity"
If the gnomes haven't figured out how to "harness" the magic contained in the OTHER 92 elements that super-conduct, why would this one be any different?
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Rare Earth Metals (Score:4, Interesting)
I was quite surprised to read in Wikipedia that the rare earth metals are neither rare nor 'earths' [wikipedia.org] in reality.
All these elements (Score:5, Funny)
All these elements are yours except Europium. Attempt no superconducting there.
how much energy was used? (Score:2)
Just how much energy was used in making the europium more efficient at energy transfer?
The proverbial chicken and egg and perpetual motion machines called, they want their gimmick back.
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nope, looks like you can't read.
cooling and squeezing both take tremendous energy. How much energy? Is it worth the trade-off for the increased efficiency?
answer those questions instead of insulting.
I always knew it (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I always knew it (Score:4, Informative)
The metal americium becomes superconducting at temperatures as high as 0.79 K ...
Submitted on February 13, 1978
Superconductivity of Americium [sciencemag.org]
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Take that, Americium!
Governor Schwartz, when asked for comment said "Youu continant sizzed eloments think you're all thaat? Califooornia is just one state and we haf an eloment named after ous"
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Take that, Americium!
Governor Schwartz, when asked for comment said "Youu continant sizzed eloments think you're all thaat? Califooornia is just one state and we haf an eloment named after ous"
You should have tried someone from Copenhagen.... they have Hafnium, and they are just a city. Don't know any toughies from there, though ;)
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You should have tried someone from Copenhagen.... they have Hafnium, and they are just a city. Don't know any toughies from there, though ;)
Yes, but they don't have a T-1000 running the place!
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T-1000?!? Damn, we'd put a T-800 in there and now Skynet's gone and substituted our substitute!
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Take that, Americium!
Governor Schwartz, when asked for comment said "Youu continant sizzed eloments think you're all thaat? Califooornia is just one state and we haf an eloment named after ous"
You should have tried someone from Copenhagen.... they have Hafnium, and they are just a city. Don't know any toughies from there, though ;)
Think of Ytterby, Sweden. A village with 3 (three!!!) elements named from it: terbium, erbium and ytterbium ( see here [wikipedia.org])
Think of Ytterby (Score:2, Interesting)
Think of Ytterby, Sweden. A village with 3 (three!!!) elements named from it: terbium, erbium and ytterbium ( see here [wikipedia.org])
Ops, I forgot some more [wikipedia.org]... It seems that Ytterby originated 4-8 names...
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Yeah, well, the Curies were just two people, and Einstein was just one!
Critical mass? (Score:2)
I wonder, Europium being quite heavy and with radioactive isotopes, what pressure till you reach critical mass?
How many elements -could- be superconductors but due to their critical mass pressure being lower than their superconductivity pressure, can't be?
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I am not a nuclear physicist but I do understand some of the principles concerning critical mass.
Critical mass isn't a simple number. There are a lot of variables such as the shape of the object. In simple terms, it centers about the loss of neutrons from a fissionable object. If there are more neutrons lost than is needed to sustain a chain reaction critical mass will not be achieved. The point is that a very long and narrow object (a cable) has a very high surface area (as compared to a sphere). Much
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I wonder, Europium being quite heavy and with radioactive isotopes, what pressure till you reach critical mass?
What makes you think that europium has a critical mass in the first place? It's actually considered a detriment to (controlled) nuclear reactions. Everything has radioactive isotopes, but very few have fissionable isotopes. And europium is lighter than, say, gold anyway.
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Neither of those qualities implies that Europium will fission.
As a minimum, it requires an isotope that emits neutrons, plus a large enough neutron-capture cross section. Neither of which Europium has.
So the answer is, if you can squeeze it hard enough (say, pressures similar to the core of the Sun), it might fuse (absorbing a moderately enormous amount of energy in the process), but otherwise,
Make me a cable! (Score:2, Insightful)
General Application Not Practical... (Score:2, Interesting)
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It just you, Sergeant Detritus.