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2017 Nobel in Physics Celebrates Discovery of Gravitational Waves

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded its 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics to Drs. Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne, researchers who made decisive contributions to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and its observation of gravitational waves.

Improved Cooling Leads to Rare Achievement in Study of Antimatter

Scientists at CERN are celebrating a rare achievement in precision physics in which collaborators on its BASE experiment measured a property of antimatter 350 times as precisely as it had ever been measured before. The result was accomplished after researchers improved cooling methods for the experiment.

Webb Selfie Focus of Critical Cryogenic Test

What appears to be a unique selfie opportunity was actually a critical photo for the cryogenic testing of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The photo was used to verify the line of sight (the path light will travel) for the...

CUORE Releases First Data Collection

Researchers have released the first collection of data from the full detector of CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events), an experiment considered to be one of the most promising efforts to determine whether tiny elementary particles called neutrinos are identical to their own antiparticles.

Manufacturers Complete Cryogenic Tank Delivery to ITER

European manufacturers have delivered the last of the 11 cryogenic tanks contracted for the cryoplant at ITER. The manufacturing of all components was undertaken by Air Liquide advanced Technologies (CSA CSM) and its subcontractors, while logistics were handled by DAHER. The ITER fusion machine will require a massive refrigerator to...

Celebrate Dark Matter Day

On October 31, 2017, institutions worldwide will celebrate Dark Matter Day with events highlighting the experiments that could bring us closer to solving the cosmic riddle of dark matter. The Interactions Collaboration, an international community of particle physics communication specialists, is the celebration's sponsor. Information on local events is available...

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Joule-Thomson Effect

The Joule-Thomson (JT) effect is a thermodynamic process that occurs when a fluid expands from high pressure to low pressure at constant enthalpy (an isenthalpic process). Such a process can be approximated in the real world by expanding a fluid from high pressure to low pressure across a valve. Under...

Current Leads

One of the challenges of using superconducting magnets is the connection of the magnet to a room temperature power supply. This is accomplished via current leads. The trick is that current leads should ideally have a low heat leak, since they connect room temperature to cryogenic temperature, while at the...

Multilayer Insulation

Multilayer insulation (also referred to as superinsulation) is a key component in the reduction of heat leak to cryogenic systems due to thermal radiation. MLI consists of a series of uncooled reflective surfaces placed in the vacuum space between two surfaces, one warmer than the other. Generally speaking, for ideal...

Food Processing

Cryogenics and Food The industrial gas industry provides a host of products and services related to food. The various gases have useful and sometimes fascinating applications in food industry. “The food industry is not a homogenous industry. The needs of customers processing hamburger vs. poultry vs. strawberries vs. seafood, for...

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...

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...