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Cryo-EM Reveals Crucial Electrical Switch in Brain

Scientists using cryo-EM have revealed the structure of a critical receptor (AMPA) in the brain associated with learning, memory, behavior and mood. The research was also the first to reveal the structure of AMPA receptors in a natural state, a discovery that could lead to new insight about the mechanism...

Researchers Discover Water that Never Freezes

Can water reach -263°C without turning into ice? The answer is yes, according to a group of physicists and chemists from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich who identified an unusual way to not only prevent water from forming ice crystals while at extreme sub-zero temperatures but to also...

Working Together as a “virtual telescope,” Observatories Around the World Produce First Direct Images of a Black Hole

MIT News reported on April 10 that an international team of over 200 astronomers had captured the first direct images of a black hole. They accomplished this remarkable feat by coordinating the power of nine major radio observatories on four continents, to work together as a virtual, Earth-sized telescope. In...

Turning Patient Cells into Cancer Fighters

Cancer therapy could soon include a personalized cancer treatment based on engineered immune cells derived from a patient's individual cells. The approach involves attaching proteins to these cells, receptors that target antigens present in cancer cells to then enable a patient’s immune system to seek out and destroy tumors.

Cold Atoms Act as Distant Messengers

Particles can interact directly by repelling or attracting each other, but how do particles interact when far apart? Scientists at the University of Chicago have discovered that atoms can actually exchange information using intermediary particles. Such research represents the first time this particular phenomenon has been observed in a cold...

Cryo-EM Helps Decipher 3D Structure for Cancer Treatment

A research team from Columbia University and Nimbus Therapeutics has successfully determined the 3D structure of human ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY), a metabolic enzyme that plays a key role in cancer cell proliferation and other cellular processes.

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

Air Separation and Liquefaction

by Nils Tellier, PE, President, EPSIM Corporation (CSA CSM) nils@epsim.us All illustrations courtesy EPSIM Corporation Background History of Air Separation and Liquefaction This section builds on a rich history of methods to develop deep refrigeration and cryogenic liquefaction during the 19th Century. You are encouraged to read Cryo Central’s History...

Bose-Einstein Condensate

A Bose-Einstein condensate, first proposed in 1925 by Albert Einstein based on work done by Satyendra Nath Bose (the same Bose from whom the term boson is derived), is a super-cold state of matter in which almost all of the individual atoms have “condensed” down to the lowest possible quantum...

Cold Technology for Pest Control

While it does not reach temperatures cold enough to be called cryogenic, carbon dioxide snow is at the heart of a new way of dealing with unwanted pests. It utilizes a quick freezing process that takes advantage of the properties of carbon dioxide snow and has a number of benefits...

Cryogenic Finishing

The following 3 articles discuss the uses and procedures of various type of cryogenic finishing. 1) By Robin A. Rhodes, Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Cryogenic Deflashing is employed to remove undesired residual mold flash that remains on molded parts after they are removed or ejected from the...

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