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NASA Completes JWST Cryogenic Testing

NASA researchers have completed cryogenic testing on the science instruments module for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The module contains JWST's science cameras and spectrographs, and had been undergoing four months of monitoring inside a giant thermal vacuum chamber called the Space Environment Simulator (SES) at NASA's Goddard Space...

NASA Scientists Prepare Cold Atom Laboratory for ISS Mission

On a sun-drenched hill in Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena are making progress on an experimental facility that could create the coldest known place in the universe. It's called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) and is expected to probe the wonders of...

FabLab, a STEM Show for Teen Girls, Launches on FOX

FabLab, a new science television series from the producers of the Teen Choice Awards, has launched on FOX. The show aims to enthuse tween and teen girls about STEM by drawing connections between STEM innovations and efforts to make the world a better place. FabLab is produced in partnership with...

NIST Develops First Widely Useful Measurement Standard for Breast Cancer MRI

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed the first widely useful standard for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast, a method used to identify and monitor breast cancer. The NIST instrument—a “phantom”—will help standardize MRIs of breast tissue and ensure quality control in comparing...

Argonne Announces Community Open House

Argonne National Laboratory (CSA CSM) will open its gates to the community on Saturday, May 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a day of discovery and family fun. The Open House will feature interactive demonstrations, exhibits and tours of world-class, cutting-edge research facilities. This is a great opportunity...

Maglab Researchers Demonstrate Method to Reduce Quantum Bit Decoherence

An interdisciplinary collaboration of physicists and chemists from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) (CSA CSM) has demonstrated a way to improve the performance of the powerful but persnickety building blocks of quantum computers (called quantum bits or qubits) by reducing interference from the environment. The research, which may...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Stability

Stability refers to the ability of a device employing superconductors to remain in its superconducting state after part of the superconductor transitions back to its normal conducting state due to a disturbance. While the concept can apply to many superconducting devices—transmission lines, generators, motors, etc.—it is most commonly considered in...

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors (CICC) are a common form of superconducting cable used in large-scale applications. There are several varieties of CICCs, but they all consist of many small, stabilized superconducting wires contained within a conduit through which a coolant (typically supercritical He II) flows. Figure 1 shows the cross section of...

Bayonet Coupling

A bayonet coupling is a demountable joint that allows for quick and easy connection and disconnection of cryogenic components, including transfer lines, cryostats, liquefiers and refrigerators. Bayonets provide a number of advantages, chief among them the ability to connect and disconnect the bayonets while components they connect are still at...

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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