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UCSB researchers make headway in quantum information transfer

Fiber optics has made communication faster than ever, but the next step involves a quantum leap—literally. In order to improve the security of the transfer of information, scientists are working on how to translate electrical quantum states to optical quantum states in a way that would enable ultrafast, quantum-encrypted communications.

GE expands small-scale LNG business

In connection with its recent acquisition of substantially all the assets of the Salof Companies, GE Oil & Gas announced that it has completed its acquisition of a 50 percent ownership interest in Beijing enCryo Engineering Co., Ltd., a Beijing-based joint venture with Beijing Maison Engineering Co., Ltd. that specializes...

Scientists expand search for light dark matter

After seeing possible hints of surprisingly light dark matter earlier this year, scientists on the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search have found a way to improve their search for such particles.

XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance hit milestone in liquid hydrogen engine program

XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance have announced significant progress in the XCOR/ULA liquid hydrogen (LH2) engine development program.

Fermilab postdoc wins IEEE Particle Accelerator Science and Technology Award

Dr. Anna Grassellino of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has been awarded the Particle Accelerator Science and Technology Doctoral Student Award. Sponsored by the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society, it is given to individuals who have performed outstanding thesis research in particle accelerator science and technology.

SuperPower wire powers European Union ECCOFLOW

SuperPower Inc., a subsidiary of Furakawa Electric Company of Japan, has announced that it provided the second-generation high temperature superconducting (2G HTS) wire for the European Union (EU) collaboration program, called Project ECCOFLOW, that will demonstrate a new Superconducting Fault Current Limiter (SFCL) device capable of strengthening and protecting the...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

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...

Latest in Cryo Central

Cryogenic Electronics

Randall Kirschman, consulting physicist, Mountain View, California ExtElect@gmail.com Cryogenic electronics—the operation of electronic devices, circuits, and systems at cryogenic temperatures—has been a valuable technology for decades. Cryogenic electronics (also referred to as low-temperature electronics, or cold electronics) can be based on semiconductive devices, on superconductive devices, or on a combination...

Particle Physics: High Energy Physics

Cryogenics and High-Energy Physics 1. From symmetry magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000627: Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at temperatures near absolute zero. In high-energy particle accelerators, such frigid temperatures reduce the electrical resistance of wires in superconducting magnets, increasing the magnet strength and allowing faster particle acceleration. The same holds...

HTS Degaussing Systems

From the Spring 2009 issue of Cold Facts (Volume 25, Number 2): Thanks to a joint project by the US Navy and a number of industry partners, high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology is now at the heart of an advanced degaussing system aboard the USS Higgins at the naval station...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

From http://www.superconductors.org: An area where superconductors can perform a life-saving function is in the field of biomagnetism. Doctors need a non-invasive means of determining what’s going on inside the human body. By impinging a strong superconductor-derived magnetic field into the body, hydrogen atoms that exist in the body’s water and...

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