Scientists have reported the discovery of the first room-temperature superconductor, after more than a century of waiting.
The superconductor was formed by squeezing carbon, hydrogen and sulphur between the tips of two diamonds and hitting the material with laser light to induce chemical reactions.
At a pressure about 2.6 million times that of Earth’s atmosphere, and temperatures below about 15° C, the electrical resistance vanished.
However, the new material’s superconducting superpowers appear only at extremely high pressures, limiting its practical usefulness.
Superconductors transmit electricity without resistance, allowing current to flow without any energy loss.
When superconductivity was discovered in 1911, it was found only at temperatures close to absolute zero (−273.15° C).