Tulane researchers hope AI will speed up the search for one of science's 'holy grails'
More than a century ago, a Dutch scientist named Heike Kamerlingh Onnes earned a Nobel Prize in physics by discovering the world's first “superconductor,” a material that can transfer electricity without heating up and losing energy.
Since that breakthrough, researchers around the world have identified thousands of similar materials that have been instrumental in creating some of science's modern marvels, including MRI machines that use superconductor-powered magnets to create detailed images of the inside of the human body.
The only problem with all of those materials? They have to be very, very cold to become superconductors, which is why finding one that works at higher temperatures has been one of science's most elusive goals for years.