---
title: "US Military Files Patent for Room-Temperature Superconductor"
description: "A Navy researcher thinks he's created a room-temperature superconductor, and if he has, the device could radically change the world of energy."
date: "2019-02-25"
modified: "2019-02-25"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/room-temperature-superconductor-patent"
categories:
  - "Military"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "energy"
  - "military"
  - "patent"
  - "superconductor"
---

# US Military Files Patent for Room-Temperature Superconductor

![A Navy researcher thinks he's created a room-temperature superconductor, and if he has, the device could radically change the world of energy.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/room-temperature-superconductor-patent.png>)
*\<em\>Image: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office\</em\>*

## Holy Grail

The U.S. military may be honing in on one of the most sought-after discoveries in physics.

On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office made public a Navy scientist's [patent application](<https://techlinkcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/RTSC.pdf>) for a room-temperature superconductor — and if the device works as described, it could radically change everything from transportation to computing.

## Chilly Science

Plenty of materials conduct electricity — copper, steel, water — but each introduces some level of resistance, meaning you lose a bit of the energy as it moves from point A to point B.

Some materials can become "[superconductors](<https://futurism.com/graphene-superconductor-scientists-dreamed>)," meaning they don't lose any energy during the transmission process, but only if cooled to very low temperatures. The "warmest" superconductor still can't work above -70 degrees Celsius (-95 degrees Fahrenheit), and that's not very useful for practical applications.

Researchers have been on the hunt for a superconductor that would work at around room temperature, which they consider to be 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) — and according to the patent application, Navy researcher Salvatore Cezar Pais thinks he's figured it out.

Pais' application describes a wire consisting of a metal coating over an insulator core. An electromagnetic coil surrounds the wire, and when activated by a pulsed current, this coil causes a vibration that allows the wire to act as a superconductor at room temperature, according to the application.

## Super Worthwhile

This isn't the first time someone has [claimed](<https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2018/08/13/a-room-temperature-superconductor-well?r3f_986=https://www.google.com/>) to have created a room-temperature superconductor, and thus far, none of those claims have panned out. Still, this is a technology [well worth pursuing](<https://singularityhub.com/2018/05/13/the-search-for-high-temperature-superconductors/#sm.0000041g67zztze6czb43xdhulzbs>).

Superconductors could also pave the way for "[almost lossless storage](<http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2016/ph240/mclaughlin1/>)" of energy, meaning we wouldn't have to worry about the degradation that plagues today's batteries. We could move electricity from a [renewable energy farm](<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136403211501120X>) on one side of a continent to another without losing any energy in the process.

A room-temperature superconductor could accelerate the advent of [quantum computers](<https://physicsworld.com/a/on-the-road-to-room-temperature-superconductivity/>), which could lead to breakthroughs in everything from [artificial intelligence to healthcare.](<https://futurism.com/quantum-computing-qa>) There's also the possibility we could the technology to build [magnetic levitation trains](<https://phys.org/news/2016-06-maglev.html>).

Ultimately, even if Pais' application doesn't foreshadow the future of energy, you can be sure researchers won't give up the hunt for a room-temperature superconductor any time soon.

**READ MORE**: [Navy Files for Patent on Room-Temperature Superconductor](<https://phys.org/news/2019-02-navy-patent-room-temperature-superconductor.html>) \[Phys.org\]

***More on superconductors: [Graphene Could Be the Superconductor Scientists Always Dreamed Of](<https://futurism.com/graphene-superconductor-scientists-dreamed>)***

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)