Episode Details

Cool certain materials below a critical temperature and something almost magical happens: they carry electricity with no resistance at all, and they can levitate magnets in mid-air. Superconductors already power MRI machines and cutting-edge physics, and the century-long hunt for one that works at room temperature could transform how we move and store energy. This episode explains what superconductivity is and why it's so hard to achieve.

You'll come away understanding what electrical resistance is, what changes in a superconductor, why they usually need extreme cold, how they levitate magnets, and what a room-temperature superconductor would mean.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: CERN – "Superconductivity"; Royal Institution – superconductivity explainers; Nature Physics – reviews on high-temperature superconductors.