Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 5 hrs ago
Scientists set a new low-temperature record aboard China's Tiangong station
Physicists aboard China's Tiangong space station set a new low-temperature record by cooling atoms to an equivalent temperature of 9.7 picokelvins.
That is an extremely small fraction of a kelvin, the unit used to measure temperature.
Absolute zero is the theoretical limit of zero kelvins, but the laws of physics make it impossible to reach.
The team used lasers and evaporative cooling on a cloud of rubidium-87 atoms, working in the station's microgravity environment.
The result beats the previous record of 38 picokelvins, which was achieved in a free-fall experiment in Germany in 2021.
At such low temperatures, atoms can form a Bose-Einstein condensate, allowing scientists to study quantum behavior on a larger scale and make highly sensitive measurements.
The experiment shows how space can help researchers push cooling further, though no next step is specified.
Physicists aboard China’s Tiangong space station achieved an equivalent temperature of 9.7 picokelvins, a record low, according to a study published in Science.
The result is about 280 billion times lower than the average background temperature of space.
The researchers used rubidium-87 atoms and cooling techniques in Tiangong’s microgravity environment.
The experiment’s lead researchers were physicists from Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- Who
- Physicists led by Xiaoji Zhou, Xuzong Chen and Weibiao Chen.
- What
- They achieved an equivalent temperature of 9.7 picokelvins, which the researchers described as the lowest ever measured.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- Aboard China’s Tiangong space station in Earth orbit.
- Why
- Microgravity makes it easier to cool atoms to extreme temperatures and study quantum behavior.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
NASA created a Bose-Einstein condensate in orbit aboard the International Space Station, cooling rubidium atoms to 100 nanokelvins.
A free-fall experiment in Germany’s Bremen Drop Tower achieved the previous record of 38 picokelvins.
ScienceAlert reported the new 9.7-picokelvin result in an article published that day.
- New equivalent temperature
- 9.7 picokelvins
- Previous record
- 38 picokelvins
- Atomic isotope used
- Rubidium-87
- Space station
- Tiangong
- Study journal
- Science
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which is, to our knowledge, the lowest equivalent temperature ever measured