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First Modern Liquid Oxygen Manufacturing Plant To Be Constructed At Tatu Industrial Park

https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/newsHewatele, a company based in Kenya that focuses on providing medical-grade oxygen and other healthcare solutions, held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of East Africa’s first modern liquid oxygen manufacturing plant, designed to address the rising demand for medical-grade liquid oxygen in healthcare facilities throughout the region. The advanced cryogenic medical liquid oxygen air separation unit will be located at Tatu Industrial Park.

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Superconducting Nanowires Enable Cooler Photon-Counting Electronics

M. Castellani/MIT This micrograph image shows a counting device for a single-photon detector. In this new design, both the detector and the signal processing electronics are fabricated from superconducting nanowires.Single-photon detectors built from superconducting nanowires have become a vital tool for quantum information processing, while their superior speed and sensitivity have made them an appealing option for low-light imaging applications such as space exploration and biophotonics. However, it has proved difficult to build high-resolution cameras from these devices because the cryogenically cooled detectors must be connected to readout electronics operating at room temperature. Now a research team led by Karl Berggren at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has demonstrated a superconducting electronics platform that can process the single-photon signals at ultracold temperatures, providing a scalable pathway for building megapixel imaging arrays [1].

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Cryogenic Therapy Puts the Freeze on Esophageal Cancer

Shyam Thakkar, M.D.Patients with esophageal tumors often experience malignant dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing due to an obstruction, complicating their treatment and preventing them from eating normally. The Advanced Center for Therapeutic Endoscopy at WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital is the first in West Virginia to offer an innovative solution to this problem.

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Rising Helium Demand Set to Double by 2035

Forecast of growth for helium demand. Source: IDTechExA new report from IDTechEx suggests that global helium demand is set to double by 2035, driven by the wide-ranging applications of this vital element. Helium, a finite yet critical resource, is indispensable across multiple industries. From medical imaging to semiconductor manufacturing, helium’s unique properties—such as high thermal conductivity, chemical inertness, and cryogenic capabilities—make it irreplaceable in various high-tech applications.

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Viewing Fast Vortex Motion in a Superconductor

superconducting vortexIn many superconductors, applying a sufficiently strong magnetic field causes superconducting electrons to create current vortices that can be drawn along with a steady electric current. To learn more about how these vortices move, researchers have now visualized their trajectories in a situation where they are driven to oscillate at near-terahertz frequencies [1]. They observed the vortex motion on picosecond timescales and found that, under these conditions, a vortex’s effective mass is 10,000 times less than expected. This result may be important for efforts to improve high-current superconducting devices.

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KLM Partners With ZeroAvia For Liquid Hydrogen-Powered Demo Flight

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has agreed to perform a flight demonstration of ZeroAvia’s ZA2000 hydrogen-electric engines in 2026.KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has agreed to perform a flight demonstration of ZeroAvia’s ZA2000 hydrogen-electric engines in 2026. “We’re going to do a groundbreaking demonstration flight between two airports using liquid hydrogen fuel,” KLM CityHopper MD Maarten Koopmans says at the Farnborough Airshow. “KLM wants to be a front-runner in this field, and taking this step today is showing that we are very serious about it.”

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Into the Fast Lane for Quantum Innovation

Quantum InnovationThe nascent quantum technology supply chain has reached an inflection point as companies large and small – among them household names like Google, Microsoft and IBM as well as a new wave of ambitious start-up ventures – shift gears to translate their applied research endeavours into at-scale commercial opportunities in quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum metrology. At the heart of this emerging quantum ecosystem is attocube, a German manufacturer of specialist nanotechnology solutions for research and industry, which is aligning its product development roadmap to deliver the R&D and manufacturing tools needed to support the scale-up and commercialization of next-generation quantum technologies.

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Superconductor Offers Possible Room-Temperature Bridge

different colored circles surrounding a bigger circle A new superconducting compound offers a bridge to more practical superconductors with a potentially attractive range of applications, according to new research. And the new material’s strange magnetic behavior recalls classic superconductors of decades ago—but this time in a material that’s already demonstrated its near-room-temperature bona fides. 

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How Low Can Temperature Go? Lord Kelvin and the Science of Absolute Zero

Stephen Eckel wears dark safety glasses as he peers into the complex CAVS apparatus in a darkened lab.

Temperature is probably the second most measured physical quantity in our modern world — after time. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I usually check is the time (to see if I should go back to sleep), but the second thing I check is the temperature outside (so that I know how to dress). Temperature is such a common measurement that we sometimes forget how important it is. From dairy farming to rocketry, from climate science to weather prediction, so many things require an accurate knowledge of temperature.

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How Cryogenic Chip Cooling Could Aid Data Center Efficiency

Oxford Quantum Circuits.pngFans of science fiction will know that cryogenic freezing is a commonly used mode of transport for astronauts wishing to traverse the galaxy. From classic movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien to more modern tales such as Interstellar, sci-fi writers love nothing better than plunging their protagonists into deep freeze to allow them to travel millions of miles unscathed.

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OPW Acquires Demaco in Cryogenics Consolidation

OPW and DemacoOPW announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Demaco, a provider of vacuum jacketed piping and other cryogenic equipment for gas producers, research institutions, EPC contractors, and end-users of liquefied gasses within various end-markets. Demaco will become part of the OPW Clean Energy Solutions business unit. 

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NIST Scientists Modify Common Lab Refrigerator to Cool Faster with Less Energy

Illustration of a pulse tube refrigerator. Notice that in the unoptimized case there is an additional arrow on the left side of the figure (showing that part of the gas from the compressor is wasted because it is sent back to the compressor, instead of to the refrigerator). Also note the optimized refrigerator shows colder temperatures during the cooldown, since it cools more quickly. The image is taken during the same time in the cooldown process for the two refrigerators. Credit: NISTIn a groundbreaking development, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have engineered a significant enhancement to the efficiency of cooling materials to temperatures near absolute zero. Through modifications to a commonly used laboratory refrigerator, they have achieved remarkable reductions in both cooldown time and energy consumption. This innovation holds profound implications for various fields reliant on ultracold temperatures, from quantum computing to astronomy and superconductors.

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Looking Backward and Forward

Cryo Bios

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Equigas’ Strategic Acquisition is a Catalyst for Innovation

Equigas’ Strategic Acquisition is a Catalyst for InnovationEquigas, Inc., a North Carolina-based gas equipment distributor, has embarked on an exciting new chapter with its recent acquisition of Correct Cryogenics, a respected cryogenic service provider headquartered in the Southwest US. This strategic move is a pivotal moment for Equigas as it seeks to expand its service offerings and solidify its presence in the US cryogenic and industrial gas markets.

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BHEX Leverages Cryogenics to Capture Black Holes

High-resolution image of a black hole, showing the photon ring. Credit: George Wong (IAS)Introduction to BHEX-The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) is a mission that will discover and measure a black hole’s photon ring, capturing light that has orbited a black hole. BHEX will extend the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) into space, producing the sharpest images in the history of astronomy, whilst operating a space-Earth hybrid VLBI observatory by sending the BHEX radio telescope into space to link down with the existing EHT telescope on Earth.

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Fives Pioneers Renewable Energy Storage and Hydrogen Mobility

Cryogenic heat exchangers, known for their high reliability and low energy consumption, are widely used, for their high reliability and low energy consumption. Credit: FivesThe Largest Renewable Energy Storage Project-Fives, a global industrial engineering group, has been selected by Zhonglv Zhongke Energy Storage Technology Co. to supply cryogenic equipment for the largest renewable energy storage project on an industrial scale. This project, located in Golmud, Qinghai province, China, is set to be operational by the end of 2024 and marks the first industrial-scale implementation of Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) technology.

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Frozen Imaging: How Cryogenic Cameras Power Unprecedented Discovery

Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are nearly done with the LSST Camera, the world's largest digital camera ever built for astronomy. Roughly the size of a small car and weighing in at three tons, the camera features a five-foot-wide front lens and a 3,200 megapixel sensor that will be cooled to -100°C to reduce noise. Once installed atop the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope in Chile, the camera will survey the southern night sky for a decade, generating a wealth of data for scientists to analyze. This data will help unravel some of the universe's biggest mysteries, including the nature of dark energy and dark matter. Credit: Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryThe Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera in Chile and NASA’s Compact Thermal Imager (CTI) represent cutting-edge advancements in astronomical and Earth science technology. The LSST Camera, soon to be operational at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will survey the entire southern sky every three nights for a decade, producing detailed data to study dark matter, dark energy and transient astronomical events. In contrast, NASA’s multiple high-resolution infrared cameras and their sensors, already in operation, are designed for specific scientific and practical applications, from monitoring wildfires to studying planetary compositions. These cameras provide high-resolution imaging for wildfire detection and atmospheric studies from the International Space Station.

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Cryogenic CMOS Innovations Advance Quantum Computing

SPICE models quantumIn the race to unlock the full potential of quantum computing, recent breakthroughs in cryogenic CMOS technology are paving the way for a new era of computational power. At the forefront of this frontier are pioneering efforts by Semiwise and SureCore, in collaboration with Cadence Design Systems, aimed at overcoming critical challenges in developing circuits that operate at near absolute zero temperatures.

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Shine on: Upgraded Advanced Photon Source sees first X-ray light for science

A man presses a button while his colleagues look on with smiles.

A new era of science at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) is ready to begin. On June 17, 2024, the facility at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory delivered its first X-ray light beams to a scientific beamline as part of a comprehensive and complex upgrade.

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NASA Completes Flight Readiness Review for GOES-U Mission

GOES-U Mission NASANASA, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), SpaceX, and GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U) mission managers met on June 20 to conduct a Flight Readiness Review at NASA’S Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the review, teams provided an update on the mission status and certified the readiness to proceed with final launch preparation activities. 

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