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