Chinese scientists cool atoms to near absolute zero in record-breaking experiment
Scientists on China's Tiangong space station used a laser trap to cool a clump of atoms to just above absolute zero, setting a new record.
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Scientists have cooled atoms to the coldest temperature ever recorded, using a laser trap aboard China's Tiangong space station.
Tiangong included an experiment in which atoms were cooled to 10 picokelvins, which is barely above absolute zero, the coldest theoretical temperature possible in physics. Absolute zero is minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius) and the threshold at which all particles in an object are believed to stop moving.
Scientists hit the mark using "optical tweezers," known more formally as an optical-dipole trap (ODT), which hold atoms in a laser beam," the scientists reported Nov. 5 in the journal Science.
The team placed 20,000 rubidium atoms in the trap in order to restrict their motion. This reduced motion, along with the weightlessness induced by the low-gravity environment aboard the space station, caused the cloud of atoms to cool to much lower temperatures than are possible on Earth.
Taken from Live Science's own summary of the story.
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