The MicroBooNE collaboration announced on November 2 that its researchers had recorded neutrinos for the first time. The sighting marks the beginning of detailed studies of these fundamental particles whose properties could be linked to dark matter, matter’s dominance over antimatter in the universe and the evolution of the entire...

With increasing system control and reliability requirements as well as demands for higher energy efficiencies, thermal insulation in extreme environments is a growing challenge prompting the publication of new technical consensus standards for cryogenic insulation testing and multilayer insulation (MLI) systems. Different layered thermal insulation systems such as MLI and...

The current exploration plan for NASA includes towing an asteroid into lunar orbit and having astronauts visit it to gain experience with new technologies and methodologies for human exploration of the solar system. While this mission does not need the super high thermal performing insulation of a Martian mission, it...

United Launch Alliance launches Atlas V from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force launch facilities, and large quantities of cryogenic propellants are stored on-site. These propellants present leak, fire and explosion hazards throughout their handling, starting from the commercial transport trailers' arrival at the launch pad and continuing through storage...

The scope of cryogenics is vast, but in all its forms, cryogenics presents unique safety hazards, including issues associated with extreme cold, flammability, enhanced combustion due to the presence of liquid oxygen and oxygen displacement caused by gases boiling off from cryogenic liquids. Despite these hazards, if certain guidelines and...

A team led by researchers from the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cornell University has characterized a key arrangement of electrons in a high temperature superconductor. The study, published in the October 26, 2015, online edition of Nature Physics, is the first to identify the atomic-scale origins...