ACHEMA 2009 sees the launch of two innovative sample-cooling products from Techne: the Nº ICE is an electronic ice bucket containing ceramic-coated beads and the BLºCKICE cools tubes held in two Dri-Block® inserts. Both the Nº ICE and BLºCKICE are ideal for incubating samples for short or long periods at temperatures down to 0ºC - no more tubes floating in boxes of melting wet ice!

Innovative bead technology enables the Nº ICE to maintain any set temperature in the range 0 to 40ºC, for example to keep reagents at 4ºC throughout the working day. The small autoclavable and chemically resistant beads give the Nº ICE the versatility to support sample or reagent vessels of any shape. Cooling time can be saved by keeping the bucket of beads in a fridge overnight and simply inserting it into the Nº ICE when needed.

The BLºCKICE, Techne's first cooling block, offers the same 0 to 40ºC range as the Nº ICE, but with more accurate temperature control and additional timer and alarm features. This product holds different sized tubes in two standard aluminium block inserts from the Dri-Block range. Fast cool-down times ensure the unit is quickly available for use. An integrated timer allows up to 9 days to be programmed, with a buzzer sounding when the set temperature is reached and at the end of the elapsed time. The BLºCKICE also accommodates the Nº ICE bucket of beads, if required.

The novel Nº ICE and BLºCKICE will prove ideal sample-cooling solutions in life science and molecular biology laboratories, providing accurate, stable sub-ambient temperatures for a wide range of applications. Both products can display temperature to one decimal place in either degrees Centigrade or Fahrenheit.