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Energy Gap Modulations Observed in a Cuprate Superconductor

A team studying high temperature superconductors at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory has discovered definitive evidence for the existence of a state of matter known as a pair density wave, first predicted by theorists some 50 years ago. Their results, published in the journal Nature on April...

Researchers Observe Ultrafast Processes of Single Molecules in Liquid Helium for the First Time

A team at the Femtosecond Dynamics research group at the Institute of Experimental Physics at TU Graz, in Graz, Austria, has visualized the movement of single, isolated molecules inside a helium droplet for the first time. The findings, which have implications for future experiments in visualizing processes within excited molecules,...

CERN Establishes Task Force to Contribute to Global Fight against COVID-19

CERN has established a task force to identify and support contributions from the organization’s 18,000-strong global community to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The design of a novel ventilator, expected to be tested by healthcare experts in the coming weeks, is an early application of CERN’s technology to combat the international...

New ‘Refrigerator’ Supercools Molecules to Nanokelvin Temperatures

MIT physicists have found a way to cool molecules of sodium lithium down to 200 billionths of a Kelvin, just a hair above absolute zero. They did so by applying a technique called collisional cooling, in which they immersed molecules of cold sodium lithium in a cloud of even colder...

How Industrial Gas Firms Are Meeting Medical Oxygen Demand for COVID-19 Patients

Gas companies worldwide have ramped up delivery of gas cylinders and are installing new on-site liquid oxygen tanks and supply systems in hospitals as demand surges for medical oxygen to treat patients with COVID-19. The European Industrial Gases Association says members such as Air Liquide (CSA CSM) and Linde (CSA...

Wagyu Calf Born after Conception with Freeze-dried Semen in Japan

On April 17, Japan's Miyagi Prefecture announced a Japanese black wagyu calf, conceived with freeze-dried semen, had been born--a breakthrough expected to lead the way to stably storing genetic resources of the premium beef.

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

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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