Chinese scientists using the China space station’s ultracold-atom physics
experiment module cooled a rubidium atom cloud to an effective temperature of
9.7 picokelvin with an all-optical trap, about 14 orders of magnitude below room
temperature, and sustained observation for 7 seconds, setting a new
low-temperature record. The experiment was led by the Chinese Academy of
Sciences Space Application Engineering and Technology Center with Peking
University and the CAS Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics; results
published in Science.
