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Electrons and Liquid Helium Advance Understanding of Zero-Resistance

Research conducted by the Quantum Dynamics Unit at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) in Japan could represent an important step in understanding two-dimensional semiconductors. The unit's latest paper, published in "Physical Review Letters", describes anomalies in the behavior of electrons in an electrons-on-liquid helium two-dimensional system.

Brooks introduces p-Chip Technology for More Reliable Sample Tracking and Security

Brooks Automation (CSA CSM), a global provider of automated sample storage systems and consumables for compound management and biorepositories, has introduced its first commercial sample storage tube incorporating p-Chip® tracking technology. The p-Chip, a unique electronic microtransponder ID tagging technology, is 100 times smaller, far less expensive and more reliable...

Heavy fermions get nuclear boost on way to superconductivity

Physicists from the United States, Germany and China have discovered nuclear effects that help bring about superconductivity in ytterbium dirhodium disilicide (YRS), one of the most-studied materials in a class of quantum critical compounds known as "heavy fermions." The discovery marks the first time that superconductivity has been observed in...

Metamaterials Boost Sensitivity of MRI Machines

A group of researchers from Russia, Australia and the Netherlands have developed a technology that can reduce Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning times by more than 50 percent, allowing hospitals to drastically increase the number of scans without changing equipment. Scientists achieved this leap in efficiency by placing a layer...

Scientists push boundaries of antimatter research in quest for answers

Scientists of the international ALPHA Collaboration have pushed the boundaries of antimatter research with a breakthrough studying the properties of antihydrogen. Published in the journal Nature, the collaboration's result improved the measurement of the charge of antihydrogen, essentially zero, by a factor of 20. The work is the latest contribution...

New Dream Team Leading CERN

Fabiola Gianotti officially began her term as CERN's new—and first female—Director General on January 1, bringing with her a group CERN describes as a "new dream team." Gianotti earned her PhD in experimental particle physics from the University of Milan in 1989 and joined CERN as a researcher in 1994....

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Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

Magnetic Levitation

From http://www.superconductors.org. Magnetic-levitation is an application where superconductors perform extremely well. Transport vehicles such as trains can be made to “float” on strong superconducting magnets, virtually eliminating friction between the train and its tracks. Not only would conventional electromagnets waste much of the electrical energy as heat, they would have...

Superconductivity

From Superpower website. History of Superconductivity Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by the Dutch physicist, Heike Kammerlingh Onnes when he was able to liquefy helium by cooling it to 4 Kelvin, or -452°F. This enabled him to cool other materials close to absolute zero and investigate their electrical properties. He...

Medical Applications of Cryogenics

Neutron Therapy Cryogenics is at the heart of nuclear accelerators. Accelerators such as Fermilab’s Tevatron make neutron therapy for cancer possible. From Fermilab Today 4/20/09: Fermilab currently offers neutron therapy. But staff at Fermilab designed and built the proton accelerator used by the nation’s first hospital-based treatment center to use...

Nuclear Physics

Al Zeller National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) at Michigan State University zeller@nscl.msu.edu Cryogenics has a long history in nuclear physics. The technology has its origins in the use of cold traps for maintaining a vacuum, which is required to prevent beam loss and for generating high voltages used in acceleration....