Chapter 239: Normal-temperature Superconductor
Chapter 239: Normal-temperature Superconductor
When Blacklight Biotechnology once again grabbed international headlines, the dozens of factories that were built in the industrial area of Namibia’s Eco Science City had concluded their projects.
Although the location was known as an open industrial area, all factories that were built there belonged to Blacklight Biotechnology. Strictly speaking, the area ought to be named Blacklight Industrial Park.
Many factory owners were fond of the location’s environment and its safety facilities and had requested permission from Qian Wenhuan to establish their factories there. However, their applications were rejected.
Countless cargo ships unloaded countless tonnes of mechanical equipment as they were docked at Walvis Bay. These loads were then transported to the industrial area by a convoy of lorries. Ever since Blacklight Biotechnology expanded into Namibia, the port had never halted its operations at all.
Through the company’s various projects, the number of people employed under Blacklight Biotechnology to facilitate these projects had gone from the hundreds into the thousands. These projects included the construction of their nuclear power stations, Eco Science City, the industrial area, and Walvis Bay.
Blacklight Biotechnology’s presence had brought countless opportunities and development to Namibia albeit its increasing political influence. This caused the parliamentarians of Namibia to harbor a mixed feeling toward the corporation.
Regardless, it was difficult for the parliament to curb Blacklight Biotechnology’s influence at its current size. Even if they were to forcefully drive the corporation out of the country, Blacklight Biotechnology would probably just restructure and survive elsewhere. However, without Blacklight Biotechnology, how would Namibia fare then?
In one of the ceramic chemical factories in the industrial area, three engineers who were enlisted into God’s Forbidden Zone were supervising ten Black Knights in their work.
These belonged to the third batch of normal version Black Knights and they had now gone through half a year of training. It was also the final batch of normal version Black Knights. Chen Chen would soon halt the production of the normal version of Black Knights and subsequently replace it with the T-version.
From their training speed to their structural strengths, the T-version of Black Knights vastly outperformed its normal version.
Whereas the current batch, consisting of five hundred normal Black Knights, was not sent into the rapid reaction force. Instead, they were distributed over the factories in the industrial area.
Then, these factories began to turn automated, such that an entire factory would function efficiently just with the involvement of a few dozens of employees.
Currently, Chen Chen was observing the workflow in one of the ceramic chemical factories. Under Professor Charles’ command, the enormous pipeline was put into motion. After three hours had passed, a flat, cylindrical, dark object was seen emerging from one of the machines.
Looking from afar, it looked like a piece of briquette.
“Did it work?”
Three engineers gathered together. Professor Charles went ahead and retrieved the “briquette”, which was the size of a palm. He gently placed it on his hands as if they were the world’s most valuable treasures.
“Mr. Chen, can we initiate the experiment now?” asked Professor Charles.
“Sure, you do you. Don’t worry about me.” Chen Chen waved as a gesture. He was visibly as excited as the rest.
“Okay.”
Professor Charles breathed a sigh of relief. He then had his assistant retrieve a platform. Judging from its color, the platform seemed to be made of pure steel. The bottom of the platform was connected to an electricity source, turning the platform into an electromagnet.
Professor Charles then very carefully placed the “briquette” in mid-air above the platform.
A strange occurrence was then observed...
Chen Chen noticed that the “briquette” did not fall onto the steel plate. Instead, it gently oscillated in its own axis as the object continued floating upward until it reached an equilibrium point, where the object came to a complete halt.
Just like that, the “briquette” was completely suspended a few centimeters above the steel plate!
Although they had foreseen it may happen, the engineers were still nervous when they saw the “briquette” floating in the air...
“It’s really working...”
Chen Chen could be seen at joy as well while he seemingly muttered a few words under his breath.
The “briquette” was a normal-temperature superconductor, a highly advanced scientific tool that Chen Chen had previously retrieved from the Elysium dimension.
“Mr. Chen, we... We did it...”
Professor Charles could be seen trembling in excitement. He said excitedly, “The techniques you provided have worked. The yttrium barium copper oxide that was yielded after going through a chemical deposition and sintering is indeed a normal-temperature superconductor!”
Chen Chen nodded and walked toward the “briquette” that was still suspending mid-air. “Please describe the object’s properties.”
“Sure!”
Professor Charles took a deep breath and suppressed the overflowing joy he was feeling within.
“According to the technique you provided, we obtained the yttrium barium copper oxide through a chemical deposition and proceeded to vitrify it via frittage. In this process, we exercised the utmost precaution as the object was still a crystal material. Only through carefully controlling the temperature and intensity of the flame can we precisely adjust the object’s boundary and maximize its conductivity...”
After Professor Charles finished his explanation, Chen Chen asked enthusiastically, “What about its practical usages? Isn’t yttrium barium copper oxide a brittle material? Can we really use it as a construction material?”
“Absolutely.”
Charles answered determinedly, “After manipulating its properties, a metal composite oxide like this has a sufficient amount of strength and malleability. Even if it didn’t reach the industrial requirement, its diamagnetivity is capable of solving most of the problems...”
Then, Charles gently touched the suspending superconductor and exclaimed, “Look at this, it’s the perfect illustration of the Meissner effect. The next Industrial Revolution is here!”
Chen Chen did not respond but he knew that Charles was right. A superconductor material that could only be stored under low temperature could never rival a superconductor material that could be stored under normal temperature.
In the history of human civilization, a hundred years had passed since the discovery of the first superconductor material. Countless superconductors had been used in the modern scientific field and other industries.
Within the scientific research field, the Large Hadron Collider that was built in Europe contained up to 9300 superconductor magnets.
Within the clinical research field, superconductors were also present in magnetic resonance imaging machines.
Within the engineering industry, the diamagnetic frictionless gyroscope and bearing played an important role as well...
Other than that, superconductor materials had also played an important role in military equipment, telecommunication satellites, airplanes, and more.
A normal-temperature superconductor was not just a new superconductor material. All superconductor materials that were previously discovered could only be stored under extremely low temperatures. Such an environment could only be maintained through the use of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium, which were more expensive than the material’s value itself.
As a result, low-temperature superconductor materials were typically used in only a few industries that were developed enough to facilitate that technology. It was almost impractical in everyday uses.
However, the discovery of a normal-temperature superconductor would render low-temperature facilities worthless, saving the user the cost of maintaining these facilities as well as the capital required for constructing such facilities.
That was only one of the many reasons. A normal-temperature superconductor would also make the replication of quantum entanglement much simpler, paving the way toward the invention of a quantum calculator.
What more, it would also pave the way for new technologies that could manipulate nuclear fusion...
The discovery of such material was enough to trigger the Fourth Industrial Revolution in human civilization.