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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

Helium-3

Helium-3 (3He) is one of the two stable isotopes of helium. The other is the much more common Helium-4 (4He). Neither of these isotopes should be confused with He II, which is the second liquid phase of 4He. He II was discussed in this column in the Spring 2010 edition...

Cryopumping

Cryopumping refers to the use of cryogenic temperatures to produce vacuum in enclosed spaces. More broadly, it can also refer to the removal of gases via cryogenic temperatures from a flow stream or enclosure without necessarily resulting in vacuum pressures. This is an important application of cryogenics and is used...

Thermal Acoustic Oscillations

Thermal Acoustic Oscillations (TAO) are a common event in cryogenic systems that can have significant adverse effects on the performance of the system. TAOs are sustained pressure oscillations that can occur in tubes containing gas, closed at one end (the warm end) that have a very large temperature gradient along...

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...

Latest in Ask the Experts

What is the temperature range of cryogenics?

Could you please tell me what is the temperature range of cryogenics? In other words, is -100°F considered cryogenic, or does it start lower? Could I expect to see some extended life in D2 stamping dies? What would the recipe be to achieve the desired results using cryogenics?