US Court dismisses LHC lawsuit
An appellate judge has dismissed the lawsuit concerning the LHC's startup brought forth by Walter Wagner.
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Pier Oddone comments on WFIRST and LSST
From Director's Corner in Fermilab Today: Last week the National Research Council unveiled the Decadal Survey of astronomy and astrophysics, “New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics.”
AMS to depart for Kennedy Space Center
On August 26, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer will depart from Geneva International Airport and begin its journey to Kennedy Space Center on board a US Air Force Galaxy transport aircraft.
ARRA funds SCRF work at Fermilab
From Fermilab Today: About 200 Chicago-area tradespeople will find work constructing Fermilab’s first superconducting radio-frequency cryomodule test facility during the next year.
Canelli wins IUPAP Young Scientist Prize
From Fermilab Today: Florencia Canelli, a CDF physicist, was recently awarded the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Commission on Particles and Fields Young Scientist Prize.
26th SSC speakers to include prominent astronaut and Nobel Peace Prize winner
The 26th Space Simulation Conference (SSC) will feature two prominent keynote speakers: Dr. John C. Mather, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner in Physics, and Dr. John Grunsfield, former NASA astronaut.
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Helium-3
Helium-3 (3He) is one of the two stable isotopes of helium. The other is the much more common Helium-4 (4He). Neither of these isotopes should be confused with He II, which is the second liquid phase of 4He. He II was discussed in this column in the Spring 2010 edition...
Cryopumping
Cryopumping refers to the use of cryogenic temperatures to produce vacuum in enclosed spaces. More broadly, it can also refer to the removal of gases via cryogenic temperatures from a flow stream or enclosure without necessarily resulting in vacuum pressures. This is an important application of cryogenics and is used...
Thermal Acoustic Oscillations
Thermal Acoustic Oscillations (TAO) are a common event in cryogenic systems that can have significant adverse effects on the performance of the system. TAOs are sustained pressure oscillations that can occur in tubes containing gas, closed at one end (the warm end) that have a very large temperature gradient along...
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...
An Issue of Pressure and Flow Rate in a Supply Tank
Please help solve this problem: A supply tank requires a vaporizer to generate sufficient pressure to pump stored fluid up into a vehicle or tank. The available head is limited as the tank level falls and it is important to minimize the system pressure drop to maintain the desired flow...
Using MLI on VJ Line Joints or Cryo Storage Tanks
When installing Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) blankets on VJ line joints or cryo storage tanks should they be wrapped and tied down tight or loose? These are usually pre-cut to size. Also should they have an access hole at the point of where the molecular sieve is installed to help...
Separated layers of ice over a pipe
I want to know that why there are different layers of ice over a pipe carrying a cryogenic fluid, each layer separated with clear marks / lines? What do these layers signify?