Background:

 Superconductors are materials that offer zero resistance to the flow of electricity. In other words, a superconductor will not get hot as more and more electricity passes through it, thus, eliminating energy loss over distance. The phenomenon was first observed in 1911 by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes after he had cooled mercury to 4° Kelvin (-452°F, -269°C), the temperature of liquid helium. To induce superconductivity in pure mercury, it was necessary for Onnes to come within 4 degrees of Absolute Zero, the coldest temperature that is theoretically attainable. By experimentation, he discovered other materials would also exhibit superconductivity, each at its own point known as the transition temperature, or T_c. His research won him a Nobel Prize in 1913.

Type 3 Superconductors:

In late summer 2014, the first Type 3 superconductor compound was discovered by accident at a weapons research facility in Livermore California. While looking for the next generation of high explosives, the research team at Sandia National Laboratories knew they were onto something when several micrograms of the material detonated prematurely. The explosion severely injured one person while destroying the high-pressure oven they were using to cure the sample. They quickly learned that the material must be isolated from the atmosphere. A few weeks later a junior scientist among them was fleshing out the property tables on the new explosive when she tried to obtain the resistivity of the material. At first, she thought her equipment was malfunctioning until she realized she was measuring superconductivity. Zero resistance. Before the day was out, she had determined this new material had a transition temperature of a remarkable 307°K or 92°F. They had stumbled upon one of sciences holy grails, a true high temperature superconductor. I know this story is true because that junior scientist was my grandmother.

Conquest of Space:

Even without considering its titillating future, a strong case can be made supporting Calconn as the most influential material of the 21^st century. The change in technology was so dramatic, so complete, that historians use the notation preCal to separate everything that predated the use of Calconn. Many have started to present the current era as the Calconn Age. This fact may be best known by the technical people who keep the electricity flowing and industries humming, but as of this writing virtually every citizen on Earth and Luna knows what Calconn is. It touches everyone every day in ways they may not even be aware. Calconn based electromagnetism and magnetic field generators retooled human technology, just as steam and copper-based electricity did in their time. Everything electric became smaller yet faster, stronger, more efficient, when using Calconn in place of copper, aluminum, or gold conductors, from the largest power cables all the way down to the micro circuitry found inside a computer chip. Practically from the start, every major industry clamored for Calconn based electronics and machinery. After that first decade, the demand far exceeded the supply and has for half a century, spawning an endless number of industries aimed at scratching that itch.

Conclusion:

At the turn of the century, my grandmother regularly flew in an old style atmospheric jetliner between New York and London. It would take 120,000 lbs of hydrocarbon fuel to make the 3500-mile journey, burned in only a few hours. Today that same weight of hypergolic fuel allows a magnetoplasma thruster to operate for over 200 days at maximum thrust, easily taking those same passengers to Mars and back several times over.