Superconductivity is the weird phenomenon of zero electrical resistance that occurs when some materials are cooled below a critical temperature. The best superconductors have to be cooled with liquid helium or nitrogen to get cold enough (often as low as -250 °C or -480 F) to work. The holy grail for researchers is the idea that a material could be made to superconduct at around 0 °C — so-called room temperature superconductivity. If such a thing was ever discovered it would unleash a wide range of new technologies, including super-fast computers and data transfer.
