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Comment by swader999 | Hacker News Reader

Nuclear fusion much easier, quantum computing, lossless electricity transmission, insane batteries. Dirt cheap MRIs, Basically welcome to the Jetsons. Much easier to mitigate climate change to the point where we can just deal with it.

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Room temperature superconductivity does not help with quantum computing. The transmons or atoms or ions need to be cold so that they do not get "flipped", not because of the need for superconductors.

Do quantum computers not have a need for strong magnetic fields? Or is the magnetic field requirement weak enough that it can be serviced by non-superconducting magnets?

The computer needs to be super cold anyways so you might as well use a regular superconductor.

How would this make climate change easier to deal with? Because it would make everything that much more efficient? I'm honestly trying to understand the implications.

Long distance power transmission suffers losses from resistance. Superconductors don't suffer losses. With superconductors you could stick a giant wind farm in the ocean and cover the Sahara in solar panels. Run distribution lines from there to everywhere else and pretty much call it a day on the planet's power needs. (lots of things glossed over, not the least of which are social and geopolitical but you get the idea)

It takes energy to remove carbon from the atmosphere. With abundant energy from fusion you could just remove the carbon added by humans.

Batteries and nuclear fusion. With easy energy, you can pull the carbon out of the air.

This would only solve one of the more minor problems with fusion. And what would it do for batteries?

I wonder if it would really mean a different sort of battery maybe like a super capacitor that doesn't discharge.

Battery grid storage would be dead in the water, as we already use Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage for grid stability and ultra-clean power in certain industries - except suddenly a huge chunk of issues involved in making large power SMES will disappear.

They won't replace portable batteries soon, but room temperature superconducting will greatly increase efficiency in all areas of electricity, including higher power motors (the efficiency gains are good enough that superconducting motors and generators have been attempted despite needing supercooling). Also, a simple SMES could easily buffer future BEV truck charging station despite projected 1MW connection per charging truck.

The challenge of fusion is a collection minor problems that add up to machines that are unviable for our current level of industrial output. Eliminating one of the three key plant systems (cryo, vacuum, and heating) is not a molehill, especially when it is the second highest user of power (after heating).

Nuclear fusion, quantum computing, insane batteries

Why do you think any of these are true?

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