In November 1911, Heike Kammerlingth Onnes reported on the abrupt disappearance of resistance in mercury at 4.20 K. To mark the centenary of the discovery of superconductivity, this issue of CERN Courier looks at some of the aspects of its application – in particular in the context of particle accelerators – and at some more anniversaries. It is 75 years since type-II superconductivity was first observed in Kharkov (The discovery of type-II superconductors). Although sadly overlooked for 25 years, this made superconducting magnets a real possibility and led to the Tevatron – the first superconducting synchrotron – (Farewell to the Tevatron) and most recently the LHC, with its particular challenges (Superconductivity and the LHC: the early days), as well as to applications in medical scanners (PET and MRI: providing the full picture). First proposed 50 years ago, RF superconductivity also has an important role in many accelerators (Advances inacceleration: the superconducting way), exemplified in several of the applications of superconductivity at KEK, founded 40 years ago (Progress in applied superconductivity at KEK).
