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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

Mixed Refrigerant Cycles

Most cryogenic refrigeration systems, both large scale systems and cryocoolers, use helium as a working fluid. There are a number of advantages to helium, not the least of which is that helium remains a fluid down to the lowest achievable temperatures. In order to freeze helium, pressures of over 20...

Fountain Pumps and He II Phase Separators

Helium II (He II), the second liquid phase of the 4He isotope described in this column in Cold Facts Spring 2010 (http://2csa.us/he2), can be modeled as consisting of two interpenetrating fluids. One, the superfluid component, has zero viscosity and entropy and the other, the normal fluid component, has nonzero viscosity...

Turboexpanders

A vital technology in the refrigerators and liquefiers described in Cold Facts Volume 31 Number 3 is that of turboexpanders. These devices are rotating machines in which the process fluid (e.g., helium) does work against the turboexpander while moving from high pressure to a lower pressure and thus is cooled....

Latest in Cryo Central

Cryogenic Treatment of Materials

F.J. Diekman Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc. info@metal-wear.com Cryogenic Processing (also called cryogenic treatment, and incorrectly “cryogenic tempering”) is a process that uses cryogenic temperatures to modify materials to enhance their performance. Cryogenic Processing involves the slow reduction in temperature of the material to at least -300°F (-185°C) and holding the...

Cryogenics in Space

Peter Kittel University of California-Berkeley pkittel@cal.berkeley.edu Space Cryogenics is the application of cryogenics to space missions. These applications fall into two broad areas, supporting space science missions and supporting the space transportation infrastructure. Science applications: The atmosphere is opaque to much of the electro-magnetic spectrum. In space, the absence of...

Cryosurgery

Review of Cryosurgery Boris Rubinsky, PhD Hebrew University School of Science and Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Engineering 78b Ross Building Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904 Israel rubinsky@cs.huji.ac.il as published in Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, August 2000, Vol. 2, pp. 157-187. Abstract: Cryosurgery is a surgical technique that employs freezing...

Liquefied Natural Gas

Liquefied Natural Gas as it relates to the Field of Cryogenics John W. Bonn VJ Systems, LLC johnbonn@vjsystems-lic.com Today the world is looking for a cleaner fuel and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plays a large part in achieving this goal. LNG in a liquid form is at -162°C (-259°F) 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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