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Pier Oddone to step down as Fermilab director

Fermilab Director Pier Oddone has decided to retire after eight years at the helm of America’s leading particle physics laboratory. Oddone will continue to serve as Fermilab director until July 1, 2013, while a committee appointed by the FRA Board Chairman conducts an international search for his successor.

Researchers’ insight on ‘pseudogap’ an important advance

More than two decades after scientists discovered a new type of copper-based high-temperature superconductor — energy-efficient material that can carry electricity without waste — Harvard physicists say they have unlocked the chemical secret that controls its “fool’s gold” phase, which mimics, but doesn’t have all the advantageous properties of, superconductivity.

MagLab receives renewal grant

A decision by the National Science Board (NSB) to award a five-year renewal grant to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) will enable Florida and New Mexico to continue as research meccas for leading physicists, chemists, biologists and engineers from around the world.

NIH grants $1 million for new detectors at NSLS

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $1 million dollars to purchase new precision detector technology for the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Maury Tigner retires

Maury Tigner has retired as Head of the Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based ScienceS and Education (CLASSE) as of December 2011. Tigner’s work and contributions to accelerator physics and engineering span five decades, having begun in 1959 with the nearly single-handed design and construction of a 240 MeV electron storage-ring for...

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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...

Food Processing

Cryogenics and Food The industrial gas industry provides a host of products and services related to food. The various gases have useful and sometimes fascinating applications in food industry. “The food industry is not a homogenous industry. The needs of customers processing hamburger vs. poultry vs. strawberries vs. seafood, for...

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...

In search of a calculation for designing a cryostat

I am a final year physics student at the University of Birmingham, and as part of a group I am currently designing a cryostat. One of the calculations I need to make (very soon!) is how much heat will be conducted down the walls. All information I have found so...

Safety of ethylene glycol and pressurized oxygen

We are reviewing the product design of liquid filled differential level gauges and want to insure that they meet the industry requirements. The former license owner had authorized that a fill fluid of ethylene glycol (68%) and distilled water (32%) could be used for oxygen service up to 500 psi....