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Work Begins to Boost LHC Luminosity

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN officially entered a new stage with a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of the civil-engineering work for its High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrade. By 2026, this major project will considerably improve the performance of the LHC, increasing the number of collisions in the...

NOvA Reports Strong Evidence for Antineutrino Oscillation

For more than three years, scientists on the NOvA collaboration have observed neutrino particles as they oscillate from one type to another over a distance of 500 miles. Now, in a new result unveiled at the Neutrino 2018 conference in Heidelberg, Germany, the collaboration announced its first results using antineutrinos,...

NASA Developing Foam and Cork Insulation to Protect Deep Space Rocket

NASA is advancing state-of-the-art technology for thermal protection with more environmentally friendly materials and 3D printed molds for smaller parts. The agency says that extreme temperatures—ranging from -423°F to more than 200°F—call for novel thermal protection systems on the Space Launch System (SLS), its new heavy-lift rocket.

Spectroscopy Lab Finds New Property in Quantum Matter

A Johns Hopkins research team has proved that a particular quantum material can demonstrate electrical dipole fluctuations at conditions near -450°F, a theorized but never-before detected property involving irregular oscillations of tiny charged poles on the material.

Applied Superconductivity Center Names New Director

The reins of the Applied Superconductivity Center (ASC), hosted at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (CSA CSM), have been handed over to scientist and professor Lance Cooley, a CSA board director. Cooley takes over for his longtime mentor David Larbalestier, who will remain the chief scientist for materials at...

X-ray Tech Reveals Lost 19th Century Images

A team of scientists led by Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, has revealed how art curators can use light to recover images preserved on otherwise damaged daguerreotype silver plates.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Joule-Thomson Effect

The Joule-Thomson (JT) effect is a thermodynamic process that occurs when a fluid expands from high pressure to low pressure at constant enthalpy (an isenthalpic process). Such a process can be approximated in the real world by expanding a fluid from high pressure to low pressure across a valve. Under...

Current Leads

One of the challenges of using superconducting magnets is the connection of the magnet to a room temperature power supply. This is accomplished via current leads. The trick is that current leads should ideally have a low heat leak, since they connect room temperature to cryogenic temperature, while at the...

Multilayer Insulation

Multilayer insulation (also referred to as superinsulation) is a key component in the reduction of heat leak to cryogenic systems due to thermal radiation. MLI consists of a series of uncooled reflective surfaces placed in the vacuum space between two surfaces, one warmer than the other. Generally speaking, for ideal...

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

Power usage: cryogenic systems vs. regular refrigerators

A recent project highlighted to me that closed cycle cryogenic cooling systems use far more electrical power to reduce temperatures by a few watts than regular refrigerators. I am sure it must be something to do with the extra difficulty of removing the heat from the liquid nitrogen or similar...

Redundancy strategies for mechanical -80C freezers

I was wondering what kind of redundancy strategies are people using for their mechanical -80C freezers? I am aware of the following. Please add if you are doing something different. 1) 1 Backup freezer for every 10 freezers – Empty and maintained at -80C at all times 2) Backup C02...

Safety guidelines for handling cryo vessels of nitrogen

I am looking for any safety guidelines for handling cryogenic vessels of nitrogen indoors and outdoors. I am especially interested in recommendations for area monitors to detect leaks, flow detection devices, etc.

Method to move components in a cryogenic environment

Does anyone know of a method with which to reliably move components in a cryogenic environment? We are interested in moving detectors in a cryogenically cooled (2K) vacuum chamber, which is contained within a larger cryostat/isolation vacuum with thermal shields. As the desired horizontal or vertical displacement is between 10...

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