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ASC to Hold All-virtual Conference October 24-November 7

The 2020 Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC) will be held virtually over two weeks beginning October 24 and will offer a combined virtual platform for plenary, oral and poster presentations, a conference exhibition, a new program for young professionals called ELEVATE, virtual breakouts, coffee breaks and other features.

A Quantum Thermometer to Measure the Coldest Temperatures in the Universe

On August 20, Trinity College Dublin announced that physicists from the college have proposed a thermometer based on quantum entanglement that can accurately measure temperatures a billion times colder than those in outer space. These ultracold temperatures arise in clouds of atoms, known as Fermi gases, which are created by...

Lake Shore Cryotronics Acquires Janis Research’s Laboratory Cryogenics Business

On August 5, Lake Shore Cryotronics (CSA CSM) announced the acquisition of Janis Research’s Laboratory Cryogenics (CSA CSM) business—a move that unites two of the world’s foremost providers of cryogenic and material characterization solutions for low temperature research. The acquisition of the Woburn MA-based business allows Lake Shore to now...

Barber-Nichols Wins 2020 CMA Aerospace Manufacturer of the Year Award

Barber-Nichols, a supplier of electronics enhanced turbomachines and turbomachine-based subsystems for the aerospace, defense and cryogenics industries, was named one of the winners of the fifth annual Colorado Manufacturing Awards (CMA)—hosted by CompanyWeek and Manufacturers Edge, a NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership partner—as “Aerospace Manufacturer of the Year.” Winners were announced...

Lancaster University Makes First-Ever Observation of ‘Time Crystals’ Interacting

For the first time ever, scientists have witnessed the interaction of a new phase of matter known as “time crystals.” An international team of researchers from Lancaster, Yale, Royal Holloway London and Aalto University in Helsinki observed time crystals by using Helium-3, a rare isotope of helium with one missing...

ASTM International Signs Memorandum of Understanding with New Zealand’s National Standards Body

On August 21, representatives from global standards organization ASTM International and Standards New Zealand, a division of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will lead to a closer working relationship between ASTM and Standards NZ. The MoU was signed by Katharine Morgan,...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Two-Phase Flows

Two-phase flows are those flows in which there is a mixture of two physical states (solid, liquid or vapor). In cryogenic applications, such flows are almost always a mixture of a cryogenic liquid along with its corresponding vapor. A mixture of liquid helium and helium vapor would be a typical...

Supercritical Fluids

A supercritical fluid is defined as a substance whose temperature and pressure exceed those of its critical point. Every pure substance has a critical point that is defined in thermodynamic space by a critical temperature and a corresponding critical pressure. For example, the critical point for helium has a critical...

Brayton Cycle

The Brayton cycle is one of the many thermodynamic cycles used to generate cooling at cryogenic temperatures. Strictly speaking, when referring to cooling we should call this the reverse Brayton cycle as the original Brayton cycle describes the process of power generation or propulsion via a gas turbine. In many...

Latest in Cryo Central

Wind Tunnels

Dr. Robert Kilgore The development of the cryogenic wind tunnel is one of many significant breakthroughs in both cryogenics and wind-tunnel technology made during the past millennium. Interest in the development of high-speed commercial and military aircraft resulted in a review of problems of flow simulation in transonic wind tunnels...

History of Cryogenics

From the Fall 1999 issue of Cold Facts magazine Millennium Breakthroughs A variety of CSA members give different perspectives on the past millennium: What were the most significant breakthroughs in cryogenics during the past millennium? Prof. R.G. Scurlock, Kryos Technology, scurlock@soton.ac.uk (“Breakthrough” = way through obstacles — Oxford English Dictionary)...

Cryobiology

Andreas Sputtek Past President Society for Cryobiology sputtek@uke.uni-hamburg.de or http://www.sputtek.de/. The word cryobiology (from the Greek words “cryo” = cold, “bios” = life, and “logos” = science) literally signifies the science of life at low temperatures. In practice, this field comprises the study of any biological material or system (e.g.,...

Cryogenic Insulation

James E. Fesmire Cryogenics Test Laboratory NASA Kennedy Space Center james.e.fesmire@nasa.gov Introduction In today’s world, the use of cryogenics and low-temperature refrigeration is taking a more and more significant role. From the food industry, transportation, energy, and medical applications to the Space Shuttle, cryogenic liquids must be stored, handled, and...

Latest in Ask the Experts

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...

Separated layers of ice over a pipe

I want to know that why there are different layers of ice over a pipe carrying a cryogenic fluid, each layer separated with clear marks / lines? What do these layers signify?

Using nitrogen as a cryogen

Is it possible to achieve -200˚C using nitrogen as a cryogen?

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