VEIR, an early-stage technology company based in Woburn, Mass., is pioneering the first application of superconducting transmission over long distances, a key component to deliver renewable sources of energy safely and reliably from where it is generated to where it is needed, often cross-country. VEIR is teaming up with National Grid, an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company with operations in the US and UK, that will aid the project in product development with the joint goal of demonstrating the new technology on a protected area of the grid.  

For astronauts, staying cool and comfortable on China's Tiangong space station is no problem. The station orbits Earth in about 90 minutes at an altitude of 400 km. It experiences large fluctuations in temperature, ranging from 150 degrees Celsius when the station is exposed to the sun to minus 100 degrees Celsius when over the night side of the planet. So how to protect station residents from extreme heat and cold during their six-month stay in orbit? The answer lies in several thermal control designs courtesy of the China Academy of Space Technology.

In the past several years, hydrogen energy has increasingly become a more central aspect of the clean energy transition. Hydrogen can produce clean, on-demand energy that could complement variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. That being said, pathways for deploying hydrogen at scale have yet to be fully explored. In particular, the optimal form of hydrogen production remains in question.

The NAOJ ALMA Project and Advanced Technology Center have successfully fabricated corrugated all-metal 3D-printed horns for the ALMA Band 1 receivers (Radio Frequency: 35-50 GHz). Since around 2015, the NAOJ ALMA Project and the Advanced Technology Center have been studying the applications of additive manufacturing (AM), which produces three-dimensional objects by depositing, joining, and solidifying materials based on 3D models input to a control computer. Since astronomical receivers often have only one or two devices of each type per instrument and they require unique custom-made components, there is potential for effective use of additive manufacturing.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully test-fired its CE-20 Cryogenic engine, as part of the preparation for the next launch of its heaviest rocket. This latest test comes a week after the Indian Space agency placed 36 satellites of the UK-based 'OneWeb', into Low Earth Orbit, using its heaviest rocket LVM3. The next launch to be carried out using the LVM3 will be performed sometime around January or February 2023, Chairman, ISRO, Dr. S. Somanath told WION. 

Azenta Life Sciences, a leading provider of life sciences solutions worldwide, hosted the Cryogenic Considerations for Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium in Boston, MA October 17-19^th. The symposium brought together over 100 participants across over 60 organizations including top cryobiology experts to discuss the nuances of cryogenic supply chain, transient warming, and thawing of advanced therapies—from collection of raw materials to manufacturing and distribution of cell and gene therapies.

Almac Clinical Services, a member of The Almac Group, announced a new state-of-the-art cryogenic service solution within its Durham, N. C. campus to support cell and gene therapies. This latest investment from Almac adds to the company’s overall $4 million investment to date in innovative cold chain technology in North Carolina. The Cryogenic Service Solution ensures an unbroken chain of custody from product line to patient, for sponsors of advanced therapy trials. 

A team of researchers affiliated with the Duke University School of Medicine, Lehigh University and the National Institutes of Health has revealed the molecular means by which cold-sensing channels in cells are manipulated by certain chemicals to induce a cold sensation. The study is published in the journal Science.

Air Liquide is advancing space exploration, having signed a contract with space propulsion expert Avio for the design of the new generation of cryogenic tanks for the upper stage of the future Vega-E launcher. The project is coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA), and the launcher will use cryogenic tanks filled with a mixture of oxygen stored at -182° C and methane stored at -161° C to act as propellant for the oxygen-methane engine. 

 The extremely low temperatures required for performing state-of-the-art physics experiments and operating large quantum processors have been achieved in Project Goldeneye. IBM researchers have successfully demonstrated the proof-of-concept technology for a dilution refrigerator capable of cooling future generations of quantum experiments. You can watch a sneak peek of the IBM Quantum System Two here. 

The crew members assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission went into orbit following their launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday, October 5, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The international crew will serve as the agency’s fifth commercial crew rotation mission with SpaceX aboard the orbital laboratory.

The biotech and biopharma industries utilize freezers to rapidly freeze and store thermally sensitive products such as vaccines and biopharmaceuticals as well as biological materials such as blood plasma. However, conventional compressor-based systems can take hours to reach an ultra-low target temperature, which slows production throughput. 

UK-based testing, inspection and certification services provider the Element Materials Technology Group (Element) has announced that it will expand its cryogenic testing capacities at its Milan laboratory. By investing in new fatigue testing frames, Element will strengthen its position in both aerospace and the energy sector by offering testing for hydrogen industry applications. 

Pune-based private rocket startup, Astrophel Aerospace, will soon test its cryogenic engine that would power its Astra rocket, said the promoters. "We have completed the injector cold and hot flow tests. The engine design has been completed, and soon testing will happen," Suyash Bafna, founder and CEO told IANS.

Many state-of-the-art technologies work at incredibly low temperatures. Superconducting microprocessors and quantum computers promise to revolutionize computation, but scientists need to keep them just above absolute zero (-459.67° Fahrenheit) to protect their delicate states. Still, ultra-cold components have to interface with room temperature systems, providing both a challenge and an opportunity for engineers.

We create knowledge by exploring reality’s frontiers: we study the coldest, the furthest, the lowest and highest energies, and the smallest things in the universe. But reaching these frontiers is no small feat — typically, it requires building all-new apparatuses that push the limits of modern technology. That’s why we built the world’s largest dilution refrigerator by experimental volume. 

In July, as the world marveled at the first images of the Cosmic Cliffs and previously invisible areas of star birth revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope, Allen Dufort felt excited that he’d soon make his own contributions to space exploration. As a software engineer intern, Dufort is supporting Brown University Professor of Physics Gregory Tucker's NASA-funded project to help build a telescope that will enable the study of distant planets. As part of the team, Dufort spent the summer of 2022 writing computer code for components of the telescope that the team from Brown is able to build, thanks to a grant from NASA.

Terrestrial Gravitational Wave Detectors

Terrestrial gravitational wave detectors have been used to identify various gravitational wave sources. For example, researchers have detected potential black hole neutron star mergers, binary neutron star inspirals, and binary black hole mergers via the advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). The aLIGO detectors' most sensitive band is limited by thermal noise from the primary optics and quantum shot noise. The thermal noise is combated in the KAGRA detector via cooling its core optics.

3D Systems has announced CuNi30 – a corrosion-resistant, copper-nickel alloy for use with its DMP Flex 350, metal additive manufacturing machine. The material is a result from the company’s collaboration with HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division to develop materials and process parameters for the Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) process.

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group was awarded multiple contracts for over a dozen locations. Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group (CE&IG), a part of the Japanese company Nikkiso Co., Ltd group of companies, has announced that it was awarded several contracts for providing over a dozen hydrogen fueling stations that will be located in California, South Korea and Germany.