ADVERTISEMENT

The tokamak hall at Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ fusion energy facility in Devens, Massachusetts, will house the company’s SPARC reactor. Credit: Commonwealth Fusion Systems

How Advanced Materials Could Unleash Fusion Energy

by Prachi Patel Materials advances in the past decade have led to key breakthroughs in fusion energy. The past five years have seen the launch of numerous start-ups and a surge of investment into the long-sought clean energy source. Whether fusion becomes viable in the next decade depends on continued materials...
Infinite Helium flow path and heat diagram. Credit: Lake Shore Cryotronics

Getting Closer to Artemis II Rocket Completion with Newest Addition

NASA has integrated the Artemis II Orion stage adapter with the rest of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Built by NASA engineers at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the adapter connects the...
Flight Engineer Joe Acaba works in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on the International Space Station, setting up hardware for the Zero Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) experiment. Credit: NASA

NASA Aims to Keep Fuel Cool Under Pressure with Zero Boil-Off Experiment On NG-23

Flight Engineer Joe Acaba works in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on the International Space Station, setting up hardware for the Zero Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) experiment. Credit: NASA Space missions rely on cryogenic fluids — extremely cold liquids like liquid hydrogen and oxygen — for both propulsion and life support...
Cryoport opens cryogenic logistics facility near Paris

Cryoport Opens cryogenic logistics facility near Paris

By Molly Burgesson Oct 03, 2025 Temperature-controlled supply chain solutions company Cryoport has opened a new facility in Louvres, France, with cryogenic capabilities to support the storage and transport of temperature-sensitive materials. The site was launched through subsidiary Cryoport Systems and is located near Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. It is...
Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Commonwealth Fusion Systems Signs PPA with Italian Energy Company Eni

By Zachary Skidmore Google-backed nuclear fusion firm Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Italian energy firm Eni for power from its ARC power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia. In July, CFS became one of the first fusion firms to sign a PPA with a...

New Entanglement Breakthrough Links Cores of Atoms, Brings Quantum Computers Closer

Quantum entanglement — once dismissed by Albert Einstein as “spooky action at a distance” — has long captured the public imagination and puzzled even seasoned scientists. But for today’s quantum practitioners, the reality is rather more mundane: entanglement is a kind of connection between particles that is the quintessential feature...

ADVERTISEMENT

Stability

Stability refers to the ability of a device employing superconductors to remain in its superconducting state after part of the superconductor transitions back to its normal conducting state due to a disturbance. While the concept can apply to many superconducting devices—transmission lines, generators, motors, etc.—it is most commonly considered in...

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors (CICC) are a common form of superconducting cable used in large-scale applications. There are several varieties of CICCs, but they all consist of many small, stabilized superconducting wires contained within a conduit through which a coolant (typically supercritical He II) flows. Figure 1 shows the cross section of...

Bayonet Coupling

A bayonet coupling is a demountable joint that allows for quick and easy connection and disconnection of cryogenic components, including transfer lines, cryostats, liquefiers and refrigerators. Bayonets provide a number of advantages, chief among them the ability to connect and disconnect the bayonets while components they connect are still at...

Magnetic Levitation

From http://www.superconductors.org. Magnetic-levitation is an application where superconductors perform extremely well. Transport vehicles such as trains can be made to “float” on strong superconducting magnets, virtually eliminating friction between the train and its tracks. Not only would conventional electromagnets waste much of the electrical energy as heat, they would have...

Superconductivity

From Superpower website. History of Superconductivity Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by the Dutch physicist, Heike Kammerlingh Onnes when he was able to liquefy helium by cooling it to 4 Kelvin, or -452°F. This enabled him to cool other materials close to absolute zero and investigate their electrical properties. He...

Medical Applications of Cryogenics

Neutron Therapy Cryogenics is at the heart of nuclear accelerators. Accelerators such as Fermilab’s Tevatron make neutron therapy for cancer possible. From Fermilab Today 4/20/09: Fermilab currently offers neutron therapy. But staff at Fermilab designed and built the proton accelerator used by the nation’s first hospital-based treatment center to use...

Nuclear Physics

Al Zeller National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) at Michigan State University zeller@nscl.msu.edu Cryogenics has a long history in nuclear physics. The technology has its origins in the use of cold traps for maintaining a vacuum, which is required to prevent beam loss and for generating high voltages used in acceleration....

An Issue of Pressure and Flow Rate in a Supply Tank

Please help solve this problem: A supply tank requires a vaporizer to generate sufficient pressure to pump stored fluid up into a vehicle or tank. The available head is limited as the tank level falls and it is important to minimize the system pressure drop to maintain the desired flow...

Using MLI on VJ Line Joints or Cryo Storage Tanks

When installing Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) blankets on VJ line joints or cryo storage tanks should they be wrapped and tied down tight or loose? These are usually pre-cut to size. Also should they have an access hole at the point of where the molecular sieve is installed to help...