In the 1960s, auto company researchers scored this key breakthrough in superconductivity, even though the work had nothing to do with cars
By Ann Johnson
Posted
Photo: Arnold Silver/FordFord’s SQUID Team: The researchers who invented the SQUID were [from left] John Lambe, James Zimmerman, Arnold Silver, Robert Jaklevic, and James Mercereau.
Cooled to a few degrees above absolute zero, a superconducting quantum interference device, or SQUID, can do something amazing: detect a magnetic field only a millionth as strong as the human brain’s, or less than 5 quintillionths of a tesla.
Measuring such minute magnetic fields turns out to be useful for many things, including geophysical and archeological surveys, detection of the cosmic microwave background, nondestructive testing of materials and devices, and imaging the brain, heart, and other body parts. Invented some 50 years ago, the SQUID now comes in dozens of varieties, with different materials and circuitries, and operating temperatures both high (at the liquid-nitrogen range of around 77 kelvins) and low (less than 10 K, in the realm of liquid helium).
Exquisite though they are, SQUIDs seem to have been invented almost accidentally. During the 1950s and 1960s, industrial and academic labs pursued superconductors with nearly the same zeal they were devoting to semiconductors. Bell Telephone Laboratories, General Electric, IBM, RCA, and Westinghouse all had programs in superconductivity.
A healthy lifestyle is essential to achieving optimal wellbeing and longevity. This infographic, "11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity," gives you useful tips to help you live a long and healthy life. Use the embed code to share it on your website or visit our infographic page for the high-res version.
<img src="http://media.mercola.com/assets/images/infographic/general-health-guidelines.jpg" alt="11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity" border="0" style="max-width:100%; min-width:300px; margin: 0 auto 20px auto; display:block;"><p style="max-width:800px; min-width:300px; margin:0 auto; text-align:center;">A healthy lifestyle is essential to achieving optimal wellbeing and longevity. This infographic, "<a href="http://www.mercola.com/infographics/general-health-guidelines.htm">11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity</a>", gives you useful tips to help you live a long and healthy life. Visit our infographic page for the high-res version.</p>
Does the cloud have edges? We refer to the cloud as a perimeter-less environment, with workloads moving dynamically through various physical networks and regions. The cloud is interlinked in such a manner that there is no clearly defined edge to it. So what does it really mean to create cloud security at the edge?
To answer this question, let’s use an analogy. When the world was considered a flat landmass, humans thought it had a physical edge. Once we understood that Earth is a globe, the concept of that physical edge was no longer valid. However, from a logical point of view, the world’s landmass is divided into continents, countries, cities, neighborhoods, apartments, houses, etc. People can move around freely among these various locations. However, each area has its own rules of entry to ensure people traversing these locations are checked for positive intent and don’t have a negative impact at the location. Thus, a strong level of investigation at the port of entry becomes critical.
