Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"We follow the scientists around and look over their shoulders."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Superconductor of Heat | ||
| A light metal that accepts heat applied to its surface, and then dissipates the energy throughout the material, leaving the temperature of the material unchanged. |
A superconductor is a substance that will conduct electricity without resistance; typically, a very low temperature is required. Electrical current will flow forever in a closed loop of super conducting material
| Lafferty used his cutting laser. They stood around watching the narrow green beam do nothing to the silvery casing. Staley wondered: where was the energy going? He took a thermometer reading. The casing was just less than red-hot all over. When Lafferty turned off the laser the casing cooled rapidly; but it maintained the same temperature at every point. A superconductor of heat... They tore sheets off with their gauntleted hands. |
| From The Mote in God's Eye,
by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle). Published by Simon & Schuster in 1974 Additional resources -
|
The obvious advantage of a superconductor of electricity is that there is no loss; the power received at the device is equal to the power generated at the source. A superconductor of heat would make it more efficient to heat specific areas using a centralized system
Comment/Join this discussion ( 4 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Mote in God's Eye
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
Tech news articles related to The Mote in God's Eye
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
| ODYSSEUS Solar-Powered Stratospheric Plane Flies Forever |
| Phil Nuyttnn's City Under The Sea |
| Stick-On Tape Speakers, As Predicted By Bruce Sterling |
| Has Climate Change Already Been Solved By Aliens? |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'... forcing the energy transfer which allowed him to ... erase the other internal-external damage.'
'Of course, being negative matter, when you push it, it comes toward you..'
'They'll also start pulling in gases and liquids from the local atmosphere...'
'The plastex swam and whirled like boiling toothpaste...'
'The object is built up of an infinite series of plane layers, at the focus of the ray...'
'... the computing mechanisms that studied and restructured the incoming material.'
'... an instrument having relatively small bit pieces adapted to be gripped between the teeth.'
'A procession of automatic ore carts was racing over the bleak slag'
'The cab was an egg-shaped bubble of light metals and plastics...'
