Canadian physicists make a breakthrough in understanding how high temperature superconductors work.

Nature has published an article detailing a breakthrough made by a team of Canadian physicists at the University of Toronto.

Louis Taillefer, the leader of the team, predicts that the breakthrough will lead to room temperature superconductors within ten years - which would have huge implications such as economically feasible magnetically levitated trains, less power loss in transmission lines and power stations - and even rail guns.

The breakthrough centers on detecting the quantum oscillation signature of electrons in special metals when they are exhibiting superconducting characteristics. This should allow scientists to experiment with different materials and tweak their compositions so that they achieve superconducting states at room temperatures.