Red Wine and the Secret of Superconductivity 105
cold fjord writes "Red wine is a popular marinade for meat, but it also may become a popular treatment for creating iron-based superconductors as well (Link to academic paper): 'Last year, a group of Japanese physicists grabbed headlines around the world by announcing that they could induce superconductivity in a sample of iron telluride by soaking it in red wine. They found that other alcoholic drinks also worked — white wine, beer, sake and so on — but red wine was by far the best. The question, of course, is why. What is it about red wine that does the trick? Today, these guys provide an answer — at least in part. Keita Deguchi at the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan, and a few buddies, say the mystery ingredient is tartaric acid and have the experimental data to show that it plays an important role in the process. ... It turns out the best performer is a wine made from the gamay grape — for the connoisseurs, that's a 2009 Beajoulais from the Paul Beaudet winery in central France.'"
Well, obviously (Score:5, Funny)
Alcohol -> less resistance.
And we needed scientists to figure this out... why?
Ah-ha! (Score:5, Funny)
That's why Bender drinks. To keep the superconductors flowing.
I thought the alcohol was fuel.
Just an excuse. (Score:5, Funny)
some people I know (Score:5, Funny)
Some people are just walking talking superconductors then.
Re:Just an excuse. (Score:5, Funny)
That explains it.... (Score:4, Funny)
I think that explains why my brain seems to go faster after 1-2 bottles.
Re:No really! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why did they do this (Score:4, Funny)
Probably had a theist on staff.
When you mix the most "spiritually transformative" substance described with the most "spiritually inhibitory" substance... something weird's probably going to happen. ;)
Re:Prohibition (Score:4, Funny)
Dude, you are like...such a drag man. What a downer.
Re:Well, obviously (Score:4, Funny)
But are they sure that it wasn't the observers who were inadvertently soaked in red wine?
Re:Well, obviously (Score:5, Funny)
Alcohol -> less resistance.
And we needed scientists to figure this out... why?
Well sure, they said any alcohol would do. But why does red wine work best?
Clearly red wines are superior to white wines. But if we're talking about lowering resistance, you'd expect beer or wine coolers to be far more effective. Or jello shots. Did they even try jello shots?
Re:some people I know (Score:5, Funny)
given that jesus's blood was wine, that dude would probably exhibit a hell of a meissner effect. maybe that's how he pulled off the whole 'walk on water' shtick.
Re:So, if we drink red wine... (Score:4, Funny)
do we get electrocuted easier?
No, we just get really really good at leading orchestras. At least, we think we do,