2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of superconductivity, the ability of some materials to conduct electricity with zero energy loss when cooled to extremely low temperatures.
Dr. John Baust, UNESCO Professor and Director of the Institute of Biomedical Technology at SUNY's Binghamton University, has been elected President of the group, which promotes the highest possible standards in clinical practice, continuing education and research in cryosurgery, raising public awareness in the uses of cryosurgery, and providing a...
When the next-to-last Space Shuttle, Endeavour, is launched on April 29 it will be carrying the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) particle detector, an instrument designed to detect dark matter, antimatter and other exotic phenomena.
The "100 Years of Superconductivity" Symposium and Technology Milestone Dedications held April 8 in Leiden, The Netherlands, were major commemorations of this important anniversary.
A blog by Hamish Johnston on physicsworld.com reports that a group at the American Physical Society March meeting in Dallas “broke in” to the old Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) site just south of the town for a look at the derelict project.
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) completed its first science flight on April 6, using the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT) scientific instrument.
Reaching temperatures below 1K requires different techniques than the various helium gas cycles found in large scale refrigeration plants and small cryocoolers. One of these techniques is Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration (ADR). This technique takes advantage of the fact that the entropy of paramagnetic materials in a magnetic field is lower than...
A cryogen is any fluid that operates at cryogenic temperatures (below roughly 150K – 120K). Using this definition, helium gas at 40K is a cryogen. Another more restrictive definition is to use cryogen to refer specifically to liquids at cryogenic temperatures. This is generally how it is used in the...
A cryostat is any device designed to maintain things (including fluids) at cryogenic temperatures. In general usage, cryostats tend to be passive devices rather than providing active cooling. In this usage, cryostats keep things cold by thermally isolating them from room temperature. This generally is accomplished by a combination of...
by Nils Tellier, PE, President, EPSIM Corporation (CSA CSM) nils@epsim.us All illustrations courtesy EPSIM Corporation Background History of Air Separation and Liquefaction This section builds on a rich history of methods to develop deep refrigeration and cryogenic liquefaction during the 19th Century. You are encouraged to read Cryo Central’s History...
A Bose-Einstein condensate, first proposed in 1925 by Albert Einstein based on work done by Satyendra Nath Bose (the same Bose from whom the term boson is derived), is a super-cold state of matter in which almost all of the individual atoms have “condensed” down to the lowest possible quantum...
While it does not reach temperatures cold enough to be called cryogenic, carbon dioxide snow is at the heart of a new way of dealing with unwanted pests. It utilizes a quick freezing process that takes advantage of the properties of carbon dioxide snow and has a number of benefits...
The following 3 articles discuss the uses and procedures of various type of cryogenic finishing. 1) By Robin A. Rhodes, Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Cryogenic Deflashing is employed to remove undesired residual mold flash that remains on molded parts after they are removed or ejected from the...
I am a final year Physics Undergraduate at the University of Cambridge (UK). As a part of one of my courses this year, I have been asked to investigate the use of hydrophobic surfaces in cryogenics.