Unraveling the mysteries of exotic superconductors
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory are using specialized techniques to help unravel the mysteries of a new type of superconductor that was discovered in 2008.
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NASA’s KSC celebrates 50th anniversary
On July 1, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida celebrated 50 years of launching humans and machines to other planets and into low Earth orbit.
Niowave dedicates $10 million expansion facility
Niowave, Inc. dedicated its $10 million expansion facility on July 3, 2012.
Former SSC staffer: “We could have found it first.”
Dr. Michael T. Gamble, a former staff member of Los Alamos National Laboratory who contributed to management of a collaboration at the SSC, comments on the impact the loss of the SSC has had on American science.
Asymmetry may provide clue to superconductivity
Scientists offered new details regarding intriguing similarities between the quirky electronic properties of a new iron-based high-temperature superconductor (HTS) and its copper-based cousins in the journal Nature (June 21, 2012).
Henry Glyde appointed to named professorship
Henry Glyde has been named Unidel Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware, effective September 1. Glyde is a Rhodes Scholar with research interests in low temperature physics and neutron scattering, quantum and classical liquids in disorder and confinement, Bose-Einstein condensation and quantum Monte Carlo methods.
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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...
Low temperature applications of titanium and alloys
For a technical presentation I would like to have some recommendations for low temperature applications of titanium and titanium alloys. Do you think you can help me?
Designing a liquid oxygen bath
I’m designing a Liquid Oxygen Bath to place composite coupons in the bath and soak 96 samples for intervals of 8 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, 21 days, 42 days, 62 days and 90 days.
School science projects involving cryogenics and metallurgy?
Can you recommend any school science projects that would involve cryogenics and metallurgy?
Metallic Salts Normally Used to Produce Ultra-Low Temperatures?
Regarding the method known as the Adiabatic Demagnetization of Paramagnetic Salts: What metallic salts are normally used to produce the ultra-low temperatures used for near-absolute-zero cryogenic research? Which salts are the most efficient? Which make the best cooling agents? And which are used most commonly by physicists? I am looking...