Physicists have found a metal that conducts electricity but not heat

[NukeET]

FASTER PLEASE!

http://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-have-found-a-metal-that-conducts-electricity-but-not-heat

 

[Enjo]

You see:
"conducts electricity but not heat"

You think:
"CPU overclocking!"

 

[jedidia]

I always find it exciting when common materials suddenly turn out to be awesome. While this certainly needs more research, we don't have a barrier of "the applications are endless, but it's gonna take a century or so until we can produce it economically".

 

[Col_Klonk]

Looks like a sleight of wording.
I'd think the correct wording would be...

It does produce heat when electricity runs through it, albeit lower than expected.
It does conduct heat at higher temps.

 

[Thorsten]

You see:
"conducts electricity but not heat"

You think:
"CPU overclocking!"

And I think "CPU meltdown"...

(you actually want the heat to be conducted away from the CPU as fast as possible - which is why you fan it with air - to increase the heat transport - a thermal insulator on your board is pretty much not that useful)

 

[Enjo]

I obviously wasn't talking about a radiator but the CPU material...

 

[Thorsten]

Yes, so was I - if it can't conduct heat to somewhere else because it's heat conductivity is low, it obviously has to accumulate it locally, which mean temperature ramps up till it melts.

Thermodynamics is cruel.

 

[Enjo]

So where does this excess heat come from initially?

 

[Thorsten]

Partially from the finite resistance (imperfect electrical conductivity) of the material. Partially also from the need to 'forget' states in a processing device (otherwise Maxwell's demon would work) - that's dictated by the growth of entropy.

I suspect what you actually want as material is a high-temperature superconductor - zero resistance, and all heat carried away very quickly (i.e. high electrical and thermal conductivity).