A preprint paper indicates that a fairly simple to make room-temperature pressure-ambient superconductor has been discovered:
The paper describes a material that needs materials & ceramic kiln which would be available to Thomas Edison, as well as a vacuum pressure that was first achieved by Thomas Edison himself: https://vacaero.com/information-res...347-a-brief-history-of-vacuum-technology.html
In the unlikely scenario that this research replicates (which should occur soon if it does given the ease of making the material), it would mean that Edison could have produced a useable superconductor with the materials & equipment available to him
A useable superconductor would have solved the issue of short-range power delivery that lead to his preferred direct current power losing the War of the Currents
The material in its current grainy impure state has a pretty low Telsa tolerance (not unlike Edison himself) so it wouldn't mean they'd be using railguns in World War 1 or anything though, modern refinement techniques might make it possible once they're available
So how does history change if Edison gets his hands on superconductors?
The paper describes a material that needs materials & ceramic kiln which would be available to Thomas Edison, as well as a vacuum pressure that was first achieved by Thomas Edison himself: https://vacaero.com/information-res...347-a-brief-history-of-vacuum-technology.html
In the unlikely scenario that this research replicates (which should occur soon if it does given the ease of making the material), it would mean that Edison could have produced a useable superconductor with the materials & equipment available to him
A useable superconductor would have solved the issue of short-range power delivery that lead to his preferred direct current power losing the War of the Currents
The material in its current grainy impure state has a pretty low Telsa tolerance (not unlike Edison himself) so it wouldn't mean they'd be using railguns in World War 1 or anything though, modern refinement techniques might make it possible once they're available
So how does history change if Edison gets his hands on superconductors?