From 1994 until early 2006, Futurescience, Inc. sold several superconductor kits using the Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide "high temperature" superconducting ceramic material.  All these superconductor kits required liquid nitrogen.  Futurescience, Inc. no longer exist, and its operations (including the operation of this web site) have been taken over by Futurescience, LLC, a company that was founded in early 2008 by the person who made all of the superconducting disks and rings for Futurescience, Inc.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:   We are not accepting any new orders for Futurescience superconductor products.  We may resume some limited superconductor production for replacement parts at some point in the future; but for now, the people here who are knowledgeable about superconductor production are far too busy with other projects.  We will still be here to do our best to support those who have purchased Futurescience superconductor products in the past.   We hope to be able to provide parts and assistance to our previous customers for a long time, although we currently have no intention of resuming normal superconductor production.   The documentation about our superconductor products will remain online.   As of January 2010, we have spares of the magnets that were included in the kits.   We also have a few of the complete assembled spare probes (including the superconducting bar) for the Model 500 kit on hand.  These Model 500 probes can also be used as replacements for the probes in the Model 1000 kit, although you will not be able to perform the persistent current experiment.  For information about these replacement parts, see the contact information near the bottom of this page.

Although superconductor kits from nearly all science education distributors are frequently out-of-stock, you can often find at least one interesting superconductor kit in stock from the following science education distributor:

For information about how to make superconductors in a high school or university science laboratory, see the detailed page on Making Superconductors.   Also see Jerry Emanuelson's Introduction to High-Temperature Superconductors.   The manuals for our old superconductor kits, which are linked to farther down on this page, also provide a large amount of information about high-temperature ceramic superconductors.

Manuals for these kits that we produced in the past are available by clicking on the designated links below.  Although these manuals are copyrighted, permission is granted to print out any reasonable number of copies for use with the kits, or for any classroom or laboratory use within your educational institution.

Kits that we have produced in the past include:

Model 150 Magnetic Levitation Kit.  This basic kit included an yttrium-barium-copper-oxide superconductor mounted on a copper pedestal in an insulated dish.  Also included was a rare-earth magnet, plastic forceps and a comprehensive manual. 

(Note:  In recent years, these kits included the larger 0.5" (12.7 mm.) diameter rare-earth magnet in the Model 150 kits instead of the smaller magnet that we previously used.

The Model 150 Instruction Manual is on line. (An Adobe Acrobat version of this manual is also available.

(Note:  in recent years, these kits include the larger 0.5" (12.7 mm.) diameter rare-earth magnet in the Model 250 kits instead of the smaller magnet that we previously used.)  

The Model 250 Instruction Manual is on line. An Adobe Acrobat version of this manual is also available.

Model 1000:  Resistance and Persistent Current in a Ring.

Note:  We have have permanently stopped production of the Model 1000 kit.  We will try to supply any necessary spare parts to customers who have purchased this kit in the past.

The Model 1000 Instruction Manual is still on line.  This manual includes illustrations and will take a minute or two to load.

Model 500 Resistivity vs. Temperature Kit.  This was a relatively new kit designed for those who wish to do only the Resistivity vs. Temperature Measurements.  The electronics board is identical to the model 1000 kit above, but the superconductor probe used a superconducting bar rather than a ring.  (The magnet, magnet holder probe, and compass are not necessary for resistivity measurements, and were not included.)  The superconducting bar is more rugged than the ring; and, therefore, is better for school laboratory use where students are subjecting the superconductor to repeated thermal cycling between room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature.  A digital voltmeter and a small DC power supply must be supplied by the user.  Note:  A printed manual is not included with the special edition Model 500 kit, and is not available.  Please download the manual from this web site. An Adobe Acrobat version of this manual, and others, is also available.

The Model 500 Instruction Manual is on line.  This manual includes illustrations and will take a minute or two to load unless you have a high-speed connection.

If you are a student or parent interested in using our kits for a school or science fair project, please see our notes about superconductors for school projects.

Note:  Be sure to keep the superconducting disks and rings out of the reach of children. The superconducting material can be hazardous if swallowed since stomach acid reacts with the material to form toxic barium chloride.

A satisfactory demonstration of the superconductor magnetic levitation effect requires a rare-earth magnet.  Magnets were included in the levitation demonstration kits.  A few of these are still available for our former customers.  Please inquire by email about these.

Please send email inquiries regarding support and replacement parts for our discontinued products to:  Jerry Emanuelson

Our mailing address is:

• Futurescience, LLC.
• 2405 Eagle View Drive
• Colorado Springs, CO 80909

Our phone number is no longer included on this web page.  Please email Jerry Emanuelson for our phone number if you need to talk by telephone to someone at Futurescience, LLC.  Communication with Futurescience, LLC. is most efficient through email.