Coldest Place on Earth

The Coldest Place on Earth Is Going to Space

NASA's Cold Atom Laboratory will cool atoms to a billionth of a degree above absolute zero in order to study strange physics.

NASA

By Avery Thompson

The coldest place in the universe is about to go to space.

The Cold Atom Lab, built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is designed to created the coldest temperatures in the universe. Using lasers and a vacuum chamber, the CAL reduces a handful of atoms to temperatures only a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero. Scientists can use this setup to study the weird physics that arises in these extreme conditions.

Primarily, scientists want to study an exotic form of matter called Bose-Einstein condensates. These form when certain materials are cooled to within a few degrees of absolute zero, and exhibit many strange properties. For instance, Bose-Einstein condensates have zero viscosity, which means they can flow freely without losing energy.

However, it's difficult to study Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth, because they're subjected to the effects of the Earth's gravity and only last for a few seconds. That's why the CAL is headed to the ISS in August, where the Bose-Einstein condensates are expected to last several seconds at least. This will give scientists a better chance to study how they work.

With increased knowledge of Bose-Einstein condensates comes a host of applications in science and technology. Bose-Einstein condensates could potentially be used to build better atomic clocks or quantum computers, as well as better gravitational detectors to study dark matter and dark energy.