50 years ago, superconductors were warming up

Excerpt from the March 16, 1974 issue of Science News

A photograph of a diamond anvil used to crush materials at high pressures and ultracold temperatures.

To create superconductors, physicists use diamond anvils (one shown) to crush materials at high pressures and ultracold temperatures. Researchers are searching for materials that can superconduct at ambient pressure and room temperature.

J. Adam Fenster/University of Rochester

Superconductors inch upwardScience News, March 16, 1974

Superconductivity, the property by which certain metals lose all their electrical resistance, would be a grand thing to use technologically were it not for the extreme refrigeration necessary.