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LHC Smashing Collision Records

The LHC is colliding protons at a faster rate than ever before—approximately 1 billion times per second— and those collisions are adding up. This year alone the machine has produced roughly the same number of collisions as it did during all previous years of operation put together.

Argonne Breaks Ground on New Facility

Construction is under way at Argonne National Laboratory (CSA CSM) on the final building of its Energy Quad, a group of four adjoining buildings designed to maximize collaboration between energy and materials scientists. The new Materials Design Laboratory will allow scientists to discover new materials, understand how they work and...

Construction Moves Forward on Next-Gen Dark Matter Detector

The next-generation dark matter detector LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) has cleared another approval milestone and is on schedule to begin its deep-underground hunt for theoretical particles known as WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles, in 2020. Physicists consider WIMPs among the top prospects for explaining dark matter, the unseen stuff that scientists...

Alstom Unveils Hydrogen Powered Train

Alstom, a leader in integrated railway systems, unveiled a hydrogen-powered passenger train during an event at InnoTrans, a railway industry trade fair. The new train, Coradia iLint, is modeled after Alstom's diesel operated Coradia Lint 54, but will feature a CO2 emission-free hydrogen fuel cell engine. The first delivery is...

AMSC and Nexans Expand Relationship

AMSC, an energy solutions provider serving the wind and power grid industry, and Nexans Deutschland GmbH (CSA CSM), an expert in the cable industry, have announced a partnership to market and sell AMSC’s Resilient Electric Grid (REG) system and other high performance superconductor power cables in the US and Canada.

Open Access Initiative SCOAP3 Extended Through 2019

CERN has announced the continuation of the global SCOAP3 open access initiative for at least three more years. SCOAP3, the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics, is an innovative partnership of over 3,000 libraries, funding agencies and research organizations from 44 countries. It has made tens of...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration

Reaching temperatures below 1K requires different techniques than the various helium gas cycles found in large scale refrigeration plants and small cryocoolers. One of these techniques is Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration (ADR). This technique takes advantage of the fact that the entropy of paramagnetic materials in a magnetic field is lower than...

Cryogen-Free

A cryogen is any fluid that operates at cryogenic temperatures (below roughly 150K – 120K). Using this definition, helium gas at 40K is a cryogen. Another more restrictive definition is to use cryogen to refer specifically to liquids at cryogenic temperatures. This is generally how it is used in the...

Cryostats and Cryocoolers

A cryostat is any device designed to maintain things (including fluids) at cryogenic temperatures. In general usage, cryostats tend to be passive devices rather than providing active cooling. In this usage, cryostats keep things cold by thermally isolating them from room temperature. This generally is accomplished by a combination of...

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

Presence of alloying elements in tool steels

I want to expand my knowledge of cryogenics in general and tool steels in particular. Specifically, I am keenly interested in learning about the presence of alloying elements in tool steels and how their presence in various combinations affects the performance of tool steels after cryogenic treatment.

Pros and cons of barcoding samples

I was wondering if I could ask for input on pros and cons of barcoding. We are in the process of trying to decide if we should start barcoding our samples and I’m just not sure if this is feasible for our organization. We have numerous sites all over the...

Purity level of helium gas stream in cryo plant purification system

I would like to know what the principal methods and the relative instrumentation to check the purity level of helium gas stream in the purification system of a common helium cryogenic plant are. What principles are these instruments based on? And what are their principal characteristics?

LN2 for cryopreservation through controlled rate freezing of samples

I am the cryogenic specialist for a stem cell bank in Greece. I am trying to find the minimum requirements (purity, humidity, etc.) of liquid nitrogen for cryopreservation through controlled rate freezing of biological samples.

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