[REPLEKIA/.]

Superconductors are metals that have effectively zero resistance to electric flow at low temperatures. They are most well known for their use in high power magnets in such devices as MRI scanners and Maglev trains.

Yoshihiko Takano and his compatriots at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan were in the process of creating a certain kind of superconductor by putting a compound in hot water and soaking it for hours. They also soaked the compound in a mixture of water and ethanol to compare which was more effective afterward. It appears the process was going well, because the scientists decided to have a little party. The party included sake, whiskey, various wines, shochu, and beer. After hitting a few back, the drunken scientists decided it would be fun to soak the compound in all the many varieties of alcohol they had on hand to see how the resulting superconductor would compared to those soaked in conventional methods.

As it would turn out, superconductors like booze as much as the scientists. Of the compound immersed in water, only 15% became superconductive. In shochu this number jumped up to 23%, and red wine caused an amazing 62% of the material to be superconductive, a four-fold increase in effectiveness over the traditional water bath method.

These findings could lead to new methods of creating superconductors that will greatly lower the cost of production.

Why is it that many of the best scientific discoveries happen for the strangest reasons?

[justinsftw]

That's because they're the ones attempted the least or last.

[chappy89]

find a way to get the operating temperatures above 8 K and we're in business!

[ShouldBeStudying]

psh why did japan release this, they couldve ruled the world...unless it's some sort of plot to get other scientists to dip metals in beer and laugh at their gullibility