Cryo- is from the Ancient Greek κρύος (krúos, “
ice
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
, icy cold, chill, frost”). Uses of the prefix Cryo- include:
Physics and geology
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Cryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
, the study of the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures and the study of producing extremely low temperatures
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Cryoelectronics
In electronics, cryoelectronics or cryolectronics is the study of superconductivity under cryogenic conditions and its applications. It is also described as the operation of power electronic devices at cryogenic temperatures. Practical applicatio ...
, the study of superconductivity under cryogenic conditions and its applications
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Cryosphere
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The cryosphere (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ''kryos'', "cold", "frost" or "ice" and ''sphaira'', "globe, ball") is an all-encompassing term for those portions of Earth's surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, ri ...
, those portions of Earth's surface where water ice naturally occurs
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Cryotron
The cryotron is a switch that operates using superconductivity. The cryotron works on the principle that magnetic fields destroy superconductivity. This simple device consists of two superconducting wires (e.g. tantalum and niobium) with differen ...
, a switch that uses superconductivity
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Cryovolcano
A cryovolcano (sometimes informally called an ice volcano) is a type of volcano that erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane into an extremely cold environment that is at or below their freezing point. The process of formation is known ...
, a theoretical type of volcano that erupts volatiles instead of molten rock
Biology and medicine
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Cryobiology
Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science. The word cryobiology is derived from the Greek words κρῧος ryos "cold", βίος ios "life", and λό ...
, the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things
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Cryonics
Cryonics (from el, κρύος ''kryos'' meaning 'cold') is the low-temperature freezing (usually at ) and storage of human remains, with the speculative hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticis ...
, the low-temperature preservation of people who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine
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Cryoprecipitate
Cryoprecipitate, also called cryo for short, is a frozen blood product prepared from blood plasma. To create cryoprecipitate, fresh frozen plasma thawed to 1–6 °C is then centrifuged and the precipitate is collected. The precipitate is r ...
, a blood-derived protein product used to treat some bleeding disorders
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Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy, sometimes known as cold therapy, is the local or general use of low temperatures in medical therapy. Cryotherapy may be used to treat a variety of tissue lesions. The most prominent use of the term refers to the surgical treatment, s ...
, medical treatment using cold
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Cryoablation
Cryoablation is a process that uses extreme cold to destroy tissue. Cryoablation is performed using hollow needles (cryoprobes) through which cooled, thermally conductive, fluids are circulated. Cryoprobes are positioned adjacent to the target in ...
, tissue removal using cold
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Cryosurgery
Cryosurgery is the use of extreme cold in surgery to destroy abnormal or diseased tissue; thus, it is the surgical application of cryoablation. The term comes from the Greek words cryo (κρύο) ("icy cold") and surgery (''cheirourgiki'' – χ ...
, surgery using cold
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Cryo-electron microscopy
Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a cryomicroscopy technique applied on samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An aqueous sample s ...
(cryoEM), a technique that fires beams of electrons at proteins that have been frozen in solution, to deduce the biomolecules’ structure
Other uses
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Cryo Interactive
Cryo Interactive Entertainment was a French video game development and publishing company founded in 1990, but existing unofficially since 1989 as a developer group under the name Cryo.
History
Cryo was formed by members of ERE Informatique ...
, a video game company
* Cryos, a planet in the video game ''
Darkspore
''Darkspore'' was a video game that borrowed creature editing technology from '' Spore''. It was described as "a fast-paced, science fiction action role-playing game in which the player battled across alien worlds to save the galaxy from the mu ...
''
See also
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Kryo
Qualcomm Kryo is a series of custom or semi-custom ARM-based CPUs included in the Snapdragon line of SoCs.
These CPUs implement the ARM 64-bit instruction set and serve as the successor to the previous 32-bit Krait CPUs. It was first introduc ...
, a brand of CPUs by Qualcomm
External links
{{Authority control
Cryogenics
Cryobiology
Cryonics
Superconductivity