Hand-held strand of niobium superconducting material used as windings for the magnet coils (top) of the PETRA electron/positron accelerator at the DES

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Hand-held strand of niobium superconducting material used as windings for the magnet coils (top) of the PETRA electron/positron accelerator at the DESY particle physics laboratory, Hamburg. A superconductor is a material that allows an electric current to flow with almost no resistance, providing it is used at an extremely low temperature - typically a few degrees above absolute zero, -273 degrees Celsius. Advantages of superconducting magnets over conventional resistive types include higher achievable magnetic fields through lower power consumption.

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Size: 5091px × 3518px
Photo credit: © DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: accelerator, conductance, conducting, conductivity, conductor, desy, niobium, petra, physics, superconductor, wire