ADVERTISEMENT

NASA Developing Foam and Cork Insulation to Protect Deep Space Rocket

NASA is advancing state-of-the-art technology for thermal protection with more environmentally friendly materials and 3D printed molds for smaller parts. The agency says that extreme temperatures—ranging from -423°F to more than 200°F—call for novel thermal protection systems on the Space Launch System (SLS), its new heavy-lift rocket.

Spectroscopy Lab Finds New Property in Quantum Matter

A Johns Hopkins research team has proved that a particular quantum material can demonstrate electrical dipole fluctuations at conditions near -450°F, a theorized but never-before detected property involving irregular oscillations of tiny charged poles on the material.

Applied Superconductivity Center Names New Director

The reins of the Applied Superconductivity Center (ASC), hosted at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (CSA CSM), have been handed over to scientist and professor Lance Cooley, a CSA board director. Cooley takes over for his longtime mentor David Larbalestier, who will remain the chief scientist for materials at...

X-ray Tech Reveals Lost 19th Century Images

A team of scientists led by Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, has revealed how art curators can use light to recover images preserved on otherwise damaged daguerreotype silver plates.

Cold Testing Underway on ITER’s Toroidal Field Coils

Engineers from SIMIC S.p.a., a contractor based in Italy, have wrapped up the first round of cold testing the toroidal field coils manufactured for ITER, a process that involved submitting the coil winding pack to a thermal cycle between room temperature and 80 K.

New Superconducting Cable Surfaces from Research Supporting US Navy

A research team from Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems and the Colorado-based Advanced Conductor Technologies LLC has demonstrated the first high-temperature superconducting direct current power transmission cable using ACT’s Conductor on Round Core (CORC) cable technology. The cables enable transmission of vast amounts of power at high...

ADVERTISEMENT

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...

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...

Cryogenic thermophysical property data

I am in search of information regarding cryogenic thermophysical property data, specifically, Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Expansion, Stiffness and Modulus, in the 20K range. My list of materials include: Ti-6AL-4V (ELI), Al 6061-T651, and Invar (36%, plus any other composition which might have data available). Other materials which would be helpful...