Question: how do super conductors help people?

Nathan Langford answered on 26 Jun 2012:

Well, I could cover a lot of ground answering this question – superconductors have a lot of applications, and because I’m kind of new to this field, I’m only just starting to learn about them myself. But here are a couple to get you going:

1) Superconductors are used to make the magnets used in full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. These are those imaging scanners in hospitals that you might have seen on TV or even been in yourself, that can do 3D scanning of your body, e.g., your brain tissue. I heard in a talk today that there are over 30000 MRI machines containing superconducting magnets in hospitals and institutions all over the world, taking images of sick people, or people who might be sick, every day.

2) Superconductors are also a key part of building high-speed trains based on magnetic levitation, like the ones that I believe are currently being built in Japan. Because these trains levitate, there is no friction between the train and the track, and these trains are therefore supposed to be much more energy efficient than other high-speed trains, therefore helping the environment. They can also travel at incredibly high speeds very safely, cutting down on time people might have to spend on transport.