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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...

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired,  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere.  On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...