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"In my mind I have gone all over the universe, which may make it less important for me to make piddling little trips... I did enjoy seeing Stonehenge. It looked exactly the way I thought it would look."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| 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. |
| Technovelgy 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
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'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
