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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

Refrigerators and Liquefiers

Two of the most common terms used in cryogenics are “refrigerator” and “liquefier.” These terms describe similar and, as will be seen, in some cases identical components. A refrigerator provides cooling (that is, absorbs heat) at cryogenic temperatures. Refrigerators typically put a working fluid (such as helium) through one of...

Air Separation

Air separation is one of the largest, as well as earliest, industrial applications of cryogenics. In this process, cryogenic temperatures are used to separate air into its constituent gases: nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.3%). Trace gases such as krypton, neon, xenon and helium total far...

Coefficient of Performance and Figure of Merit

The coefficient of performance (COP) is used to describe the effectiveness of refrigerators, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The COP is defined as the amount of heat removed at the cryogenic operating temperature of the refrigerator divided by the amount of work that must be applied to remove the...

Latest in Cryo Central

Cryogenic Electronics

Randall Kirschman, consulting physicist, Mountain View, California ExtElect@gmail.com Cryogenic electronics—the operation of electronic devices, circuits, and systems at cryogenic temperatures—has been a valuable technology for decades. Cryogenic electronics (also referred to as low-temperature electronics, or cold electronics) can be based on semiconductive devices, on superconductive devices, or on a combination...

Particle Physics: High Energy Physics

Cryogenics and High-Energy Physics 1. From symmetry magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000627: Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at temperatures near absolute zero. In high-energy particle accelerators, such frigid temperatures reduce the electrical resistance of wires in superconducting magnets, increasing the magnet strength and allowing faster particle acceleration. The same holds...

HTS Degaussing Systems

From the Spring 2009 issue of Cold Facts (Volume 25, Number 2): Thanks to a joint project by the US Navy and a number of industry partners, high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology is now at the heart of an advanced degaussing system aboard the USS Higgins at the naval station...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

From http://www.superconductors.org: An area where superconductors can perform a life-saving function is in the field of biomagnetism. Doctors need a non-invasive means of determining what’s going on inside the human body. By impinging a strong superconductor-derived magnetic field into the body, hydrogen atoms that exist in the body’s water and...

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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