Gadgetory

we all know that electronic devices output heat especially when they're working hard too much of which can result in sweaty palms melted chocolates and even catastrophic failure but do you know why it's because the circuits and wires inside an electronic device don't conduct electricity perfectly they have a certain amount of electrical resistance which is the tendency for a material to resist the flow of electrons this resistance manifest itself as heat and sometimes light this is a good thing for something like a stovetop electric heater light bulb or a toaster without electrical resistance your toaster wouldn't toast which would make it one of the world's least useful inventions ever but most of the time you don't want your electronics to heat up imagine for a moment that your house used tungsten wires that's the same material used for incandescent light bulbs your whole house would burn to the ground that's why most wires are made out of copper which conduct the electricity quite well and without much resistance aluminum copper silver and gold are great conductors of electricity but gold and silver are rare so aluminum and copper are often used because they're less expensive but even these highly conductive materials still don't conduct electricity perfectly which is why electronic devices like computers get so hot without all those heat sinks fans radiators and heat pipes your computer would heat up so significantly that it would basically melt or catch fire electrical resistance is a big issue for pretty much anything that uses electricity modern power lines use thick cables and high voltage to reduce electrical resistance but a lot of electricity is still wasted it just turns into heat and floats away if only there was a way to conduct electricity with absolutely no electrical resistance that's what a superconductor is superconductors are able to conduct electricity perfectly with no resistance and no heating of any kind and they are so cool superconducting wires are used for things that require massive amounts of electricity like inside MRI machines power plants and particle accelerators and superconducting magnets look like something straight out of science fiction since they move only along their magnetic field and never against it they can hover in the air indefinitely sounds awesome right but there's a huge catch for superconductivity to work you need incredibly low temperatures near absolute which requires the use of liquid nitrogen or helium this greatly restricts how and where superconductors can be used today that's why scientists have been working to create superconductors that work at higher and higher temperatures if we had room-temperature superconductors modern technology would be changed forever remember all those heat sinks fans radiators and heat pipes with a superconducting computer you won't need any of that anymore electronics would get smaller and use less electricity more efficiently this is one of the great scientific advancements that I hope I get to see in my lifetime maybe we'll get that back to the future hoverboard after all anyway guys I hope you enjoyed this episode of fast as possible like it if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it and leave a comment telling us what you would do with a hoverboard and also let us know how you feel about having alternative hosts on fast as possible thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe great job