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India Set to Become Associate Member State of CERN

At an event on Nov. 21, Fabiola Gianotti, CERN's director general, and Sekhar Basu, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and secretary of India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), signed an agreement admitting India to CERN as an Associate Member.

Bruker and Oxford Reach Deal for Superconducting Wire Business

The Bruker Corporation has closed a deal with Oxford Instruments for the $17.5 million acquisition of Oxford's Superconducting Wire LLC (OST). In the transaction, Bruker Energy and Supercon Technologies, Inc. (BEST), a Bruker subsidiary, acquired all shares of OST and announced the intent to fold the Carteret NJ based company...

Gecko-Inspired Adhesive Withstands Extreme Temperatures

Researchers have developed a new dry adhesive that bonds in temperatures ranging from -320°F to 1,832°F, a quality that could make the product ideal for space exploration where shade can be frigid and exposure to the sun blazing hot. It features vertically aligned carbon nanotubes with tops bundled into nodes...

LCLS X-ray Laser Reveals Ultrafast Riboswitch in Action

Scientists have used the powerful X-ray laser at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), located at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, to take the first ever snapshots of an ultrafast riboswitch, a gene regulator that can switch individual genes on and off. According to the research team,...

Stanford Study Suggests Battery Power Will Trump Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Stanford researchers say communities would be better off investing in electric vehicles that run on batteries instead of hydrogen fuel cells, in part because a hydrogen infrastructure provides few additional energy benefits for communities beyond clean transportation.

CoEPP and IHEP to Collaborate on Future Experiments

At a ceremony held Nov. 8 in Beijing, representatives from the ARC Center for Particle Physics at the Terascale (CoEPP) and the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish scientific exchange, collaboration and cooperation between the two organizations.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Refrigerators and Liquefiers

Two of the most common terms used in cryogenics are “refrigerator” and “liquefier.” These terms describe similar and, as will be seen, in some cases identical components. A refrigerator provides cooling (that is, absorbs heat) at cryogenic temperatures. Refrigerators typically put a working fluid (such as helium) through one of...

Air Separation

Air separation is one of the largest, as well as earliest, industrial applications of cryogenics. In this process, cryogenic temperatures are used to separate air into its constituent gases: nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.3%). Trace gases such as krypton, neon, xenon and helium total far...

Coefficient of Performance and Figure of Merit

The coefficient of performance (COP) is used to describe the effectiveness of refrigerators, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The COP is defined as the amount of heat removed at the cryogenic operating temperature of the refrigerator divided by the amount of work that must be applied to remove the...

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

Seeking technical publication that explains the science behind the cryogenic treatment of aluminum

Would you know of a technical publication that would list the benefits and explain the science behind the cryogenic treatment of aluminum, specifically a 356-T6 aluminum cylinder head casting? Eddie Phillips

Source of emissivity data for aluminum and aluminized Mylar at room temperature, 77K and 4.2K

Can anyone recommend a source of emissivity data for aluminum and aluminized Mylar at room temperature, 77K and 4.2K? Also, I would be interested in finding a facility that can measure this information. Any information will be greatly appreciated. William Einziger, GE Healthcare

Looking to purchase new LN2 freezer: any suggestions?

I will be purchasing a new liquid nitrogen freezer soon, but I am limited by space restrictions. The freezer cannot be more than 38 inches wide. However, it would be beneficial if the freezer holds a high number of racks such as 24. In addition, we prefer not to purchase...

Affordable flow meter to measure LN2 flow through a pipeline

I am trying to find out if anyone knows of or has used an affordable flow meter that can measure liquid nitrogen flow through a pipeline. It doesn’t need to be very accurate as it’s really to allow people in different departments to allocate cost rather than for scientific measurement....

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