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Scientists and engineers from across the world gathered in Lake Tahoe for the 2025 Space Cryogenics Workshop. Credit: CSA

Space Cryo Workshop 2025 Sparks Collaboration Across Continents

By Wesley Johnson and Dan Hauser The 31st Space Cryogenics Workshop (SCW) was held at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, Nevada, from May 13 to 15, 2025, chaired by Wesley Johnson and Daniel Hauser. More than 60 scientists and engineers from around the world convened to discuss...

Cryo-Em sample prep space. Credit: Facility Manager Desiree Benefield, PhD.

Cryo-EM at University of Cincinnati Reveals the Invisible and Transforms Structural Biology

By Megan Burgasser For the first time, researchers at the University of Cincinnati have visualized the structure of two key protein partners involved in inflammation and immune signaling. This breakthrough—published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—not only uncovers the structure of the ADAM17 enzyme in complex with...

Tiny Cryogenic Device Cuts Quantum Computer Heat Emissions By 10,000 Times

Researchers have developed a tiny device that extinguishes one of the biggest heat sources in quantum computers, cutting their running costs and potentially bringing these machines closer to commercial reality. Most quantum computers operate at temperatures close to absolute zero (459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius) using specialized cooling equipment to...

U of W Teams Sets Record for ‘Cool’ Science’

Over the summer, Dr. Jeff Martin, chair of the physics department at the University of Winnipeg (U of W), tripled his past record for ultracold neutron production at TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre. With the help of Dr. Russell Mammei, Dr. Blair Jamieson and several graduate and undergraduate students, Martin...

Nikkiso Contracted for Bahamas LNG-to-Power Project

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group has been contracted by NPG (a joint venture to be formed by Shell and a subsidiary of FOCOL Holdings Limited) to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification and cryogenic equipment for the New Providence Gas Project in Nassau, the Bahamas. The project involves...

Researchers Build Einstein Telescope Pathfinder with 10 km Arms and 10–15 K Cryogenic Mirrors

The search for gravitational waves continues to push the boundaries of precision measurement, and the next generation of detectors promises to reveal previously inaccessible cosmic events. Thomas Höhn, Adrian Schwenck, and Thomas Thümmler, from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, alongside the Einstein Telescope Pathfinder (ET-PF) collaboration, are developing crucial technologies...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

Latest in Cryo Central

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....

Latest in Ask the Experts

Need help comparing chest freezers and upright freezers

Currently we use in our Biobank an upright -80 freezer to store all our samples. We are planning to buy a fully automated bio-repository storage that will do the picking of samples under restricted conditions. But in the meantime I foresee that we have to pick the samples manually. The...

Need recommendations for cryogenic vials

I am looking into standardizing our range of bio storage tubes (cryogenic vials). These will be for both blood and tissue samples and their derivatives. Any recommendations, comments on Micronics, Nalgene, Nunc and or others that are suitable for long term -80 C and -196 C storage, DNA/RNA suitable, would...

We need a custom machine for flash freezing of water

We are an ice making company and have started a new project, which is related to flash freezing of water. It is based on cryogenics technology and we need a custom made machine. I would kindly ask you to pass me a few companies who would be interested in such...

Looking for a pump suitable for cold liquids

I would like to construct a small cooling circuit (appr. 50 x 50 cm) pumping liquid at a temperature down to -120°C from a cold reservoir to the specimen to be cooled. The tubes and connections are not a problem, but does somebody know a pump (suction/compression for circulation) suitable...

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