Text C. NEW HOPE FOR ENERGY

Recently some ceramic materials have been found to be super conductors. Superconducting ceramics are substances which can transmit electric currents with no loss of energy at temperatures much higher than conventional superconductors (that is, at the temperature of liquid nitrogen).

One use for the new superconductors would be to replace those that need the extreme cold of liquid helium - huge superconducting electromagnets used in nuclear magnetic resonance research, atomic article acceleration and research reactors.

Other types of electromagnets made with superconductors could be used to lower the cost of electric generation and storage. Such uses nay take 10 years of research, a quicker use will probably be in electronics.

Researchers now estimate that tiny but immensely powerful high-peed computers using supercoductors may be three to five years away. Farther off are 300 m.p.h. trains that float on magnetic cushions which w exist as prototypes but may take at least a decade to perfect. Power lines that can meet a city's electric needs with superconductor cables may be even farther in the future.

Meanwhile, scientists around the world are trying to turn the new materials into useful products. Among the most notable is a micron-thin film to transmit useful amounts of electric current without losing superconductivity. The film could be used in the microscopic circuitry of advanced computers as high-speed pathway (маршрут, соединение) between computer chips.

Several nations are known to be very active in superconductor research. For example, the United States is spending millions of dollars и such research, much of it for military uses: projectile accelerators, lasers, ship and submarine propulsion.

Exercise 1. General understanding:

1. How will superconductors be used in future?