Scientists have found a key process required for superconductivity occurring at higher temperatures than previously thought. It could be a small but significant step in the search for one of the "holy grails" of physics, a superconductor that operates at room temperature.

The discovery, made inside the unlikely material of an electrical insulator, reveals electrons pairing up at temperatures of up to minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 123 degrees Celsius) — one of the secret ingredients to the near-lossless flow of electricity in extremely cold superconducting materials.

So far, the physicists are baffled by why this is happening. But understanding it could help them find room-temperature superconductors. The researchers published their findings Aug. 15 in the journal Science.