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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

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration

Reaching temperatures below 1K requires different techniques than the various helium gas cycles found in large scale refrigeration plants and small cryocoolers. One of these techniques is Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration (ADR). This technique takes advantage of the fact that the entropy of paramagnetic materials in a magnetic field is lower than...

Cryogen-Free

A cryogen is any fluid that operates at cryogenic temperatures (below roughly 150K – 120K). Using this definition, helium gas at 40K is a cryogen. Another more restrictive definition is to use cryogen to refer specifically to liquids at cryogenic temperatures. This is generally how it is used in the...

Cryostats and Cryocoolers

A cryostat is any device designed to maintain things (including fluids) at cryogenic temperatures. In general usage, cryostats tend to be passive devices rather than providing active cooling. In this usage, cryostats keep things cold by thermally isolating them from room temperature. This generally is accomplished by a combination of...

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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