I am wondering, if we had Ln2 at the space, how would makers use it in their projects?
Also wondering, are there makers interested in building a generator?
Science has a dewar, but no source of LN2. It would be handy for all kinds of things, but especially cryogenic storage of live strains. More practical than obtaining and maintaining a -80 freezer.
One of many links about Ben Krasnows sensational DIY project.
He is a maker hero.
http://makezine.com/2010/06/07/diy-liquid-nitrogen-generator/
https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/dms-open-house-follow-up/12636/29?u=jast
Oh.
Wait.
That was co2…
well…
@Lampy 'll put together a Ln2 ice-cream-a-thon, I’m sure, if there’s a ready source of Ln2.
Less fizzy, but just as neat-o…
Here is another DIY liquid N2 project:
We could replicate this,
Kind of like fire walking.
Chill, dude!
Thanks for the tip. Please tell me if there is a supply near Makerspace. There is also a member in Science, Kobin, that can get a dewarful from a place that he works.
Obtaining Ln2 on a one-off basis should not be terribly diifficult. Keeping a supply on hand everyday for cryostorage of live cells is something else altogether. I also had a hunch that if Ln2 were continuously available, some makers would find creative uses for it I could never even guess at.
Not to mention, making a gadget that can reach cryo temperatures is a fabulous project in itself, quite apart from the practical uses of the Ln2.
Oh boy, I just realized @Lampy more or less promised to put together an “Ln2 ice cream-a-thon” if we had a ready source of Ln2. That right there is justification all by itself.
The technical name for the effect is the “Leidenfrost effect” (insulating layer of bubbles form instantly around warm hand, without taking away much heat in the process). Yeah, the safety concerns with Ln2, as with practically everything else, are extremely exaggerated. Sure, you can hurt yousrself with this, like everything else, if you are really determined to do so or have no common sense at all. Very low temp but also very little heat of vaporization, only 214 joules per gram evaporated. This is why liquid propane is preferred for flash-freezing protein crystals over liquid nitrogen, even though its not as cold (>560 J to vaporize a gram of propane). The champ of evaporative cooling is water, at 2260 joules of heat absorbed to evaporate 1 gram of water, thats why sweating and swamp coolers work).
link to flash-freezing protein crystals in propane:
http://strucbio.biologie.uni-konstanz.de/ccp4wiki/index.php/Cryo
Well we could always have a contest to see who could chug the most LN2! 
Now that would be grisly. See, you can always find a way to hurt yourself if you really try.
It was used to murder someone on a TV show once. Sounds like a wonderful Darwin award opportunity!
Really! How did they do the murder?
Poured ln2 down his throat with a funnel. I believe it was a beer bong scenario…
Sadly this past week a young girl “chugged” boiling water and died. What the hell are people thinking when they do this, with LN2 I can see someone young would fully comprehend how “cold” it is … of a while back people were hurting themselves with Vodka shooters that were chilled to -60 (freezing point of alcohol -173F) so dumbness is limited to kids. I’m sure it was some dare or group pressure “Prove how _____ you are.”
Duct the flashed propane into the BBQ … think of the thermal efficiency here!
I didn’t know there were tractors that ran on liquid propane. I have seen the buses of course.
Just about any petroleum based engine can run on propane.
If you can conceive of a fuel, tractors do (or have) run on it.
Seriously, anything a farmer could get their grimy mitts on, they’ve tried to use in their “tractor” over the last ~150+ years, often with surprising success (and some spectacular failures!) This would make an excellent coffee table book…
I have a Stirling Engine based Cryocooler. It’s a linear motor that pumps the cold head down to - 350 F. Only makes a liter or so a day, much easier to buy it at AirGas by the old space.