CHINESE scientists have set a new record for the coldest temperature ever achieved by humans, cooling a cloud of rubidium atoms to 9.7 picokelvin, and keeping it stable for observation for seven seconds.
The result, announced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization on Friday, marks a major step toward absolute zero, the lowest temperature theoretically possible, creating the coldest artificial substance known to date. The work was published on Friday in the journal Science.
The experiment was carried out in the ultra-cold atom physics rack aboard China's space station. The project began feasibility studies in 2011, and its experiment system was launched with the Mengtian module in 2022. It was organized by the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization under the CAS, while completed by Beijing University and the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) of the CAS.
