Here’s MY layman’s take on it:
Electrons spin.
Some electrons spin, let’s call it - clockwise.
Other electrons spin, lets call it - counter clockwise.
Electrons in ordinary room temperature matter are randomly distributed
and spinning in random patterns.
But, sometimes, electrons that spin is the same direction will ‘stick together’ and sync their spins.
Get enough of these electrons to sync up and they will superconduct.
This seems to happen in ferrous materials more often than in non ferrous materials..................
Thank you for the dumbed-down version for me.......
My take on the practical application is that they now have a superconductor at room temperatures.
That is a huge discovery if true.....
Slight correction, the ones with opposite spin ( +1/2, -1/2) pair off. The pair together then has a net spin of zero, like a photon ( a boson), which do not obey the Pauli exclusion principle. This allows the electrons to flow without resistance.
“But, sometimes, electrons that spin is the same direction will ‘stick together’ and sync their spins.
Get enough of these electrons to sync up and they will superconduct.”
Wait around long enough, and particle science always circles back to “spinning vortices in the ether”, even if they use different terms each time they head back in that direction.