onymouse@netcom.UUCP (John Debert) (09/27/90)
In A recent issue of Popular Electronics (?) there was an article about using magnets and certain alloys such as something called "galadinium" for cryogenics. This "magnetocryogenics" as it was called worked on a principle similar to that used in thermionic cooling, according to the article. I've never heard of this before, and considering the fact that Popular Electronics is not known for accuracy (and is also known for it's penchant for "april fool's" jokes) I would like to know if anyone else has ever heard of magnetocryogenics and knows how it actually works? jd onymouse@netcom.UUCP CI$: 75530,347 '' @cup.portal.com GEnie: onymouse
baker@wbc.enet.dec.com (09/29/90)
-Message-Text-Follows- >In A recent issue of Popular Electronics (?) there was an article about >using magnets and certain alloys such as something called "galadinium" >for cryogenics. > >This "magnetocryogenics" as it was called worked on a principle similar >to that used in thermionic cooling, according to the article. . . . >jd >onymouse@netcom.UUCP CI$: 75530,347 > '' @cup.portal.com GEnie: onymouse I think they may mean "gadolinium" -- a trivalent magnetic rare-earth element. As to the magnetocrygenic stuff, one of the techniques used to lower the temperature of liquid helium is let it stabilize in a magnetic field, then remove the magnetic field; in a rather sneaky thermodynamic way, the helium is "doing work" and it cools off a little bit. I don't know if this is what pop-tronics had in mind. Art Baker