A Technology “Bigger Than AI” Is Becoming Reality

It could change the world — but there is controversy

A diamond anvil cell, used to place materials under high pressure. Image by Pamela C. Burnley, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

This new technology is “bigger than AI”, according to the scientists that created it. It’s the subject of the most popular article I’ve ever written — The Technology That Will Change Everything — as it promises to completely transform computing, energy, medicine, and the economy all at once. It’s as close as we can come to the scientific fantasy of the perpetual motion machine, a machine that will continue to do work without any energy input from us. Not only would it be the most important creation of the 21st century, it would bring about a second industrial revolution and save us billions of dollars each year from the energy grid alone.

We’re talking about the famous superconductors.

Superconductors are substances that help mitigate the energy we lose to heat. We see this problem everywhere, from phones to computers, airplanes to the electricity grid. A lot of the power we generate is lost in the transmission process, lowering the efficiency of the grid and our electrical appliances. But superconductors don’t have this problem. Because of the special properties of these materials, they can carry electricity without losing energy, resulting in a huge boost in efficiency and more powerful electronics. In some studies…