Progress in the application of high temperature superconducting cerami
c materials to magnetic bearings and the prospects for higher load dev
ices is reviewed. In particular we present experimental evidence from
two studies at Cornell. New measurements from a hybrid superconducting
bearing show the possibility of peak magnetic pressures of 60 N/cm2 h
igher in the temperature range of 20-degrees-40-degrees-K using a wire
wound coil of Nb-Sn wire as the source of magnetic field and a melt-q
uenched processed YBa2Cu3O7 bulk superconductor as the other half of t
he bearing. In a second experiment we demonstrate an 0.85 kg levitated
rotor at 28,000 RPM and 5 kJ stored energy. This experiment, conducte
d at 78-degrees-K, demonstrates a six-component discrete-clement YBCO
bearing with a rare earth ring magnet. Stiffness and spin-decay measur
ements are reported. These experiments point the way to large rotor le
vitation of 10-100 kg in the near term and 1000 kg rotors in the not t
oo distant future.