If what this article says is true it could impact pretty much every aspect of computing. Some scientists claim to have made a material that behaves like a superconductor at room temperature. Typically you need to cool a material with something like liquid nitrogen to make it behave like a superconductor.
If you’re willing to suspend disbelief for a few moments consider the effects a material like this could have on the semiconductor industry, devices could operate with far less power, wires would generate no heat and be virtually immune to electromagnetic interference. I’m not sure how narrow one could make a silane wire but if they can be fabricated in a way that they’re viable on a nano scale they could fundamentally change the playing field for micro and nano electronics.
In the macro world, something like this could make a mag lev train a lot more viable and cost effective or saving a significant amount of the 6.1% of the power the U.S. generates but loses across the transmission lines (worth around $19.5B per year).
The full paper can be found here (subscription required).
Of course they’re a long way from doing anything useful with this little molecule (assuming it does what they claim at all) but I’m always interested in discoveries today that can turn an industry on its head tomorrow.
