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Nominations Open Now for Several IEEE Awards

IEEE Council on Superconductivity is currently accepting nominations for many awards, including its Wong Award, Swerdlow Award, Rosner Award and the IEEE Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions in the Field of Applied Superconductivity.

Dark Energy Survey Completes Six-year Mission

The Dark Energy Survey's scientific effort to map a portion of the sky in unprecedented detail has come to an end, but the work to learn more about the expansion of the universe has just begun.

DESY Introduces Astroparticle Physics Research Division

DESY is expanding exploration of the universe with a new research division for astroparticle physics. Such physics has developed rapidly in recent years, according to DESY, and the expansion means the agency will soon have four research divisions, including accelerators, photon science, particle physics and astroparticle physics.

SHI Cryogenics Releases Highest Capacity 4K Cryocooler

The SHI Cryogenics Group (CSA CSM) introduced a new Gifford-McMahon Cryocooler model in January, its highest-capacity 4K cryocooler to date. The advanced cryocooler extends SHI’s existing model range, units already recognized as reliable and versatile systems that feature high cooling capacities, compact designs and orientation-free operation.

Misaligned Stacks of Graphene are Stirring up Physics

An MIT team has turned graphene into a superconducting material that allows electricity to flow without resistance. The scientists achieved this feat by placing one sheet of graphene over another, rotating the other sheet to a special orientation and cooling the ensemble to a fraction of a degree above absolute...

Probing the Universe: SQUID Amplifiers for Next-Generation Large Focal Plane Array

Physicists around the world are using experiments to answer fundamental questions, including theoretical models and experimental evidence. The Simons Array is an example of one such experiment, used to observe Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, an afterglow from the universe created when it was just 380,000 years old.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Transfer Lines

Transfer lines may in some real sense be thought of as the cryogenic fluid analogy of current leads. While current leads carry electrical power to where it’s required in a cryogenic system, transfer lines do the same with cryogenic fluids. Transfer lines range in complexity from very simple U-tubes containing...

Zero Boiloff

Zero Boil Off cryostats are those that contain liquid cryogens but are designed to eliminate or vastly reduce the boil off of the liquid. These cryostats combine some of the advantages of Cryogen-Free systems (e.g. ease of use and long operational lifetime) with the advantages associated with a reservoir of liquid...

Cryomodule

Cryomodule is a term that is most commonly used to refer to cryostats that contain superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. Such cavities are used to accelerate charged particle beams and are a major component of modern particle accelerators. Using the term cryomodule to refer to cryostats containing SRF cavities appears...

Latest in Cryo Central

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...

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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