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New Cryo-Coil Improves MRI Performance

A research team has developed a high-temperature superconducting cryo-coil that allows magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners to produce higher resolution images or acquire images in a shorter time than when using conventional coils. The cryo-coil works by boosting the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)—a measure of the strength of signals carrying useful...

Scientists Map Structure of Virus Linked to Childhood Asthma

The atomic structure of an elusive cold virus linked to severe asthma and respiratory infections in children has been solved by a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Purdue University. The virus was among the first samples analyzed with a new cryo-electron microscopy system at Purdue designed...

LUX Experiment Ends, Dark Matter Remains Elusive

Researchers from the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment have confirmed that the experiment yielded no trace of dark matter during its final 20-month run (October 2014 - May 2016), even though its sensitivity far exceeded original expectations. The announcement was made during a presentation at the International Dark...

Physicists Collide Ultracold Atoms, Observe Pauli Exclusion

Physicists from New Zealand's University of Otago have used steerable 'optical tweezers' to split minute clouds of ultracold atoms and slowly smash them together to directly observe the Pauli Exclusion, a key theoretical principle of quantum mechanics.

UK Retailer Testing LN2 Engine in Its Refrigerated Delivery Trucks

Sainsbury’s, a major UK based retailer, has become the first company in the world to introduce a refrigerated delivery truck cooled by a liquid nitrogen powered engine. The company says the engine is expected to eliminate all emissions associated with refrigeration. It will undergo a three-month trial during which time...

Helium Discovered in Tanzania, Link to Volcanic Activity Verified

A new approach to gas exploration has uncovered a huge helium gas field in Tanzania, a discovery that could address the increasingly critical shortage of this vital yet rare element. A research group from Oxford and Durham universities developed the approach, together with Helium One, a Norway-headquartered helium exploration company.

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Space Cryogenics

Space cryogenics is, somewhat obviously, the application of cryogenics to space exploration and science. The use of cryogenics in space optimizes the launching of vehicles, provides power and life support to spacecraft and is critical for many scientific observations.Space cryogenics has a number of challenges and has driven both pure...

Exergy

The science of thermodynamics plays a major role in cryogenics. It underlies the various refrigeration cycles, from Carnot to Brayton (Cold Facts Vol. 32 No. 2) and Joule-Thomson, is a fundamental part of the definition of terms such as coefficient of performance (Cold Facts Vol. 31 No. 1) and even...

Cryogenic Treatment

Cryogenic treatment is the process of cooling materials to cryogenic temperatures temporarily to improve their material properties at room temperature. This is distinct from cooling materials down to cryogenic temperatures to take advantage of phenomena such as superconductivity that only occur at cryogenic temperatures. Cryogenic treatment, sometimes also referred to...

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...

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...