You may recognize graphite as the “lead” in a pencil, but besides helping you take notes or fill in countless bubbles on exam answer sheets, it is helping scientists grapple with the secrets of superconductivity.

Superconductivity happens when an electric current is transmitted through wires without the loss of any energy in the form of heat or resistance. Superconducting materials have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our daily lives, from improving the electrical grid to making more powerful computers.

However, superconductivity generally requires very low temperatures, so low they may become impractical, and the exact mechanisms of superconductivity are not well understood for many superconducting materials.