Superconductivity, a state where metals lose their electrical resistance, has been for a long time a dream of physicists. It could change the way we use energy and allow us to do things like levitate trains. But currently, superconductivity can be achieved in supercooled metals for brief periods, which severely limits its applications. Now, however, it looks as though the exotic elements plutonium and neptunium might provide a key to understanding this special property of metals. Physicists at Columbia and Rutgers say these elements are teaching them strange new things about electron pairing, and that they may soon be able to make ordinary metals supercondutive at room temperature. [Eurekalert]

Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, at .