Ask Slashdot: How Would Room Temperature Superconductors Impact Society?

Bananatree3 writes: While we have sci-fi visions of room temperature superconductors like in the movie Avatar, the question still remains: How would the discovery of a such a material impact our everyday lives? How would the nature of warfare change? How would the global economy react? What are the cultural pros and cons of such a technological shift?

By The Way, Yes I Know...

[Bananatree3]

Yes, I know there no *confirmed, peer-reviewed* discoveries of a room temperature superconductor yet. This isn't the question.
It's simply: How would society react once a real, honest peer-reviewed discovery occurs and the material is fully commercialized.

You mean besides...

[unitron]

...this story?

http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/03/23/1415233/antimagnet-cloak-hides-objects-from-magnetic-fields [slashdot.org]

Well, I'm guessing the impact would depend a lot on the price.

Cheap enough to go into some specialized instrument at CERN is one thing, cheap enough to use for high tension transmission lines is something else, and cheap enough to use in the power cord on every new toaster and microwave, well that really opens things up for all sorts of wild speculation.

Cheap and useful? That'd be nice.

[LeadSongDog]

Energy will be electrically storable in meaningful quantities (not your pissant little batteries...) Gas, oil and coal will all get a lot cheaper as demand for them drops. The Chinese will keep burning them anyway, at least until they own the rest of the world or renewables actually become cheaper. Maglev will finally be viable competition for the wheel. And of course someone will predict that "big oil" will find a way to kill it.