In James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster Avatar, humans are willfully exploiting the planet Pandora for a metal subtly named “unobtainium.” What could be so desirable that humans would theoretically be willing to destroy an alien culture to possess it?
As nerdy chatroom discussions have revealed, the fictional substance unobtainium is superconductive at room temperature—and the search for an equivalent is actually taking place.
Superconductivity means that a material (a metal, ceramic, or oxide) exhibits exactly zero electrical resistance. All materials naturally pose some resistance against the flow of electricity through their atomic structure, and unfortunately the slightest resistance causes some energy to be lost. The monstrous heat your ancient laptop shunts into your lap, for example, is waste from this resistance. An electrical current introduced to a superconductive material, on the other hand, would be used to its full potential without frying anybody’s eggs. Full Article »