From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Mon Mar 15 1999 - 14:02:29 MST
At 12:06 PM 3/15/99 -0800, Hal wrote:
>
>Is there such a thing as a thermal superconductor? I've seen references
>in SF but I don't know if such things really exist. I suppose you could
>use a heat pump, in any case. How much heat could you really pump out
>in this way though? A sky hook is pretty small compared to an atmosphere.
A thermal superconductor (a material where thermal energy moves/equalizes
at the speed of light?) does not seem possible. I suppose the most obvious
reason is that the material would have to have an infinitely rigid
crystalline structure. Also, the enormous acceleration imposed on
individual particles in the material will generate *a lot* of strain on the
material (but hey, an infinitely rigid crystal should be able to handle it).
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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