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NHMFL breaks previous record with new magnet

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory has broken the record for the highest-field "resistive" magnet with their recently upgraded 36-tesla magnet, which uses electricity to generate high magnetic fields.

World’s thinnest high temperature superconductor shows potential

Physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have created layered films of cuprate (copper-oxide) materials that allow them to localize the superconducting behavior to a single atomic plane.

Which states in the US have established RQs for liquefied nitrogen?

I’m curious to know which states in the United States have established a reportable quantity (RQ) for liquefied nitrogen, should it be unintentionally released into the atmosphere. What are the RQs for these states? Here in Massachusetts, the RQ for LN2 is 10 pounds. Mark Bennett Office of Environmental Health...

Popular culture interest in STEM growing

CERN on the The Daily Show, NASA on The Colbert Report, outreach raps for the LHC, the Tevatron and FRIB, Japanese Manga art “edutainment” for KEK, standup comedy on the helium shortage, the Australian Science Agency teaming up on a science takeoff of a Backstreet Boys’ song, hundreds of songs...

IEEE announces new Carl H. Rosner award

The Council on Superconductivity of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has established three awards, approved by the IEEE, to recognize researchers, engineers and managers, who during their professional careers, have made outstanding contributions to the field of applied superconductivity. The newest of these awards, the Carl H....

Bardeen, McBride elected AAAS Fellows

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has elected Fermilab employees Marge Bardeen and Patty McBride as AAAS fellows.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Stability

Stability refers to the ability of a device employing superconductors to remain in its superconducting state after part of the superconductor transitions back to its normal conducting state due to a disturbance. While the concept can apply to many superconducting devices—transmission lines, generators, motors, etc.—it is most commonly considered in...

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors (CICC) are a common form of superconducting cable used in large-scale applications. There are several varieties of CICCs, but they all consist of many small, stabilized superconducting wires contained within a conduit through which a coolant (typically supercritical He II) flows. Figure 1 shows the cross section of...

Bayonet Coupling

A bayonet coupling is a demountable joint that allows for quick and easy connection and disconnection of cryogenic components, including transfer lines, cryostats, liquefiers and refrigerators. Bayonets provide a number of advantages, chief among them the ability to connect and disconnect the bayonets while components they connect are still at...

Latest in Cryo Central

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...

Latest in Ask the Experts

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?

Using nitrogen as a cryogen

Is it possible to achieve -200˚C using nitrogen as a cryogen?

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