Science & Technology

Atoms reach record low temperature

By T.K. Randall
January 7, 2013 ·  27 comments

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Absolute zero is minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which atoms stop moving and the minimum temperature anything can possibly be - or at least that's what scientists thought. A team of researchers at the University of Munich in Germany have succeeded in turning this idea on its head by devising a concept of "negative temperature".

Because of the strange ways in which objects behave when cooled in to negative temperatures, the research could prove invaluable in the hunt for answers to some of science's biggest questions as well as providing new concepts for engine cooling. "A better understanding of temperature could lead to new things we haven't even thought of yet," said team scientist Ulrich Schneider. "When you study the basics very thoroughly, you never know where it may end."[!gad]Absolute zero is minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which atoms stop moving and the minimum temperature anything can possibly be - or at least that's what scientists thought. A team of researchers at the University of Munich in Germany have succeeded in turning this idea on its head by devising a concept of "negative temperature".

Because of the strange ways in which objects behave when cooled in to negative temperatures, the research could prove invaluable in the hunt for answers to some of science's biggest questions as well as providing new concepts for engine cooling. "A better understanding of temperature could lead to new things we haven't even thought of yet," said team scientist Ulrich Schneider. "When you study the basics very thoroughly, you never know where it may end."

Source: Live Science | Comments (27)

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