Hidden in the middle of the article there is an interesting tidbit: <i>&quot;When cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature, the superconducting tape can carry as much current as the larger copper conductor.&quot;</i><p>Material science and superconductivity have come a long way, and they benefit from the feedback loop with fusion research.<p>All of which reminds me of what a friend told me quite a few years back. At the time, she was doing her PhD in superconductivity at Cern, and while there, her instructor had a very nice project result. The instructor and team discovered an alloy composition that happened to keep superconductivity at temperatures nearly 20 Kelvin higher than other state-of-the-art compounds. At the time most promising superconductors required temperatures in the range of -210°C.<p>The discovery sounded neat, and a temperature bump like that certainly was cool but it didn&#x27;t sink in until a bit further just what they had achieved. Superconductivity at temperatures in &quot;low -190&#x27;s&quot; Celcius meant that suddenly it was possible to use liquid nitrogen (boiling point ~-196°C).<p>The availability and cost of coolant improved quite a bit.<p>There have been huge improvements since - the state-of-the art high temperature superconductors now keep up at temperatures around -135°C.[0] Cheaper and more abundant coolant, along with lower delta-T, means that research into <i>applying</i> superconductivity is much more accessible.<p>Small-scale fusion is likely going to be just a start; I expect to see major improvements in energy transfer, particularly on power loss, over the next 20-30 years.<p>0: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;High-temperature_superconductivity" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;High-temperature_superconducti...</a>