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High-Spin State Suggests Unconventional Superconductivity

In an ordinary superconductor, electrons carry a spin of one-half and pair up and flow uninhibited with the help of vibrations in the atomic structure. The theory is well tested and can describe the behavior of most superconductors, but new research from the University of Maryland and its collaborators reports...

Currents of Spin Detected in Superconductor

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have shown that certain superconductors can also carry currents of spin, a result that could lead to a revolution in high-performance computing, according to the team, by dramatically reducing energy consumption.

US and India Expand Partnership in Search of Neutrinos

Scientists from the United States and India have a long history of scientific collaboration—including the discovery of the top quark— and now US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and India’s Atomic Energy Secretary Dr. Sekhar Basu have signed an agreement to expand cutting-edge neutrino science projects underway in both countries.

MiniBooNE Probes the Nucleus with Muon Neutrinos

Scientists working on the MiniBooNE experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM) report that they were able to identify exactly-known-energy muon neutrinos hitting the atoms at the heart of the particle detector. The result, published in Physical Review Letters, eliminates a major source of uncertainty when testing theoretical models...

UH Scientists Working on Liquid Argon System for Dark Matter Experiment in Italy

The University of Houston is helping to develop technology for DarkSide, a dark matter experiment at Italy's Gran Sasso National Laboratory. The UH team is both upgrading the DarkSide program’s first physics detector and working on an upgrade that will hold 3,800 gallons of liquid argon.

IARPA Moving Forward with SuperTools Project

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has announced research contracts for its “SuperTools” program, a multi-year research effort to develop comprehensive software tools for designing and analyzing superconducting electronics circuits.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Regenerators

Regenerators or regenerative heat exchangers are a key component of cryocoolers such as pulse tube cryocoolers (Cold Facts, August 2014). Regenerator performance greatly affects the coefficient of performance of cryocoolers. Improvements in regenerator design and, in particular, regenerator materials have been an important factor in the improvement of the performance...

Pulse Tube Cryocoolers

The development of pulse tube cryocoolers has been a significant topic of research and development over the past 20 or so years. Pulse tube cryocoolers have a number of advantages over other types of cryocoolers and are now available commercially. In order to understand pulse tube cryocoolers, it’s best to...

Thermal Expansion

Thermal expansion refers to the change in size (length or volume) that a material undergoes as its temperature changes. In cryogenic systems this effect can be quite large and must be allowed for in the design. In isotropic materials, which include most engineering materials, the thermal expansion is the same...

Latest in Cryo Central

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...

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...

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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