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LCLS-II’s ‘First Light’ Revolutionizes X-ray Science

The LCLS-XFEL at SLAC National Accelerator Lab has launched its upgraded version, LCLS-II, generating its first X-rays. This advancement is set to revolutionize research, offering unparalleled capabilities for studying quantum materials with remarkable precision. Scientists worldwide are queued up to explore various applications, from improving computing and communication technologies using...

Bearing Fruit: Deep Apple Therapeutics Launches to Screen AI-Generated Virtual Libraries

A cryo-EM and GPCR expert, a virtual screening pioneer, and a virtual chemical library creator walk into a bar. The result is not the opening line of a joke but rather the founding of a start-up that will rapidly discover novel small-molecule therapeutics through the virtual screening of AI-generated virtual...

Thermoelectric Heating Comes In From the Cold

Before architect César Martín-Gómez could send his latest thermoelectric experiment to Antarctica in 2018, he had to make sure that soldiers from the Spanish Army could get it right on the first try. In the laboratory, he could always run the experiment—a scale model of a solid-state thermoelectric heater—a second time if...

ExxonMobil to Build CCS Pilot Plant with FuelCell Energy Using Carbonate Fuel Cell Technology

ExxonMobil’s affiliate Esso Nederland BV plans to build a pilot plant at its Rotterdam manufacturing complex to test a breakthrough technology that could significantly reduce CO2 emissions from key industries. The pilot plant aims to obtain data on performance and operability of the carbonate fuel cell (CFC) technology, jointly developed with...

Artificial Intelligence and NASA’s First Robotic Lunar Rover

When NASA’s VIPER (short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) lands on the surface of the Moon on a mission to better understand the environment where NASA plans to send astronauts as part of the increasingly complex Artemis missions, its journey will be guided by the ingenuity of its human...

DARPA-Funded Research Leads to Quantum Computing Breakthrough

A team of researchers working on DARPA’s Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices (ONISQ) program has created the first-ever quantum circuit with logical quantum bits (qubits), a key discovery that could accelerate fault-tolerant quantum computing and revolutionize concepts for designing quantum computer processors. The ONISQ program began in 2020 seeking...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

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...

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

Seeking technical publication that explains the science behind the cryogenic treatment of aluminum

Would you know of a technical publication that would list the benefits and explain the science behind the cryogenic treatment of aluminum, specifically a 356-T6 aluminum cylinder head casting? Eddie Phillips

Source of emissivity data for aluminum and aluminized Mylar at room temperature, 77K and 4.2K

Can anyone recommend a source of emissivity data for aluminum and aluminized Mylar at room temperature, 77K and 4.2K? Also, I would be interested in finding a facility that can measure this information. Any information will be greatly appreciated. William Einziger, GE Healthcare

Looking to purchase new LN2 freezer: any suggestions?

I will be purchasing a new liquid nitrogen freezer soon, but I am limited by space restrictions. The freezer cannot be more than 38 inches wide. However, it would be beneficial if the freezer holds a high number of racks such as 24. In addition, we prefer not to purchase...

Affordable flow meter to measure LN2 flow through a pipeline

I am trying to find out if anyone knows of or has used an affordable flow meter that can measure liquid nitrogen flow through a pipeline. It doesn’t need to be very accurate as it’s really to allow people in different departments to allocate cost rather than for scientific measurement....

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