In their latest experiment, Dr Sullivan and his colleagues painted the blades of a rotor with both temperature-and pressure-sensing paints, shone laser light on to them, and mapped out the temperatures and pressures as the blades whirred around as fast as 14, 000 rotations per minute.

ECONOMIST: Pressure paints

There are still hurdles to be overcome, including understanding the mechanism of high temperature superconductivity in Bednorz and Mueller's ceramics, which despite years of experiment still eludes us.

BBC: Last Updated: Monday, 5 March 2007, 08:38 GMT