Using a laser-cooling technique that could one day allow scientists to observe quantum behavior in large objects, MIT researchers have cooled a coin-sized object to within one degree of absolute zero.

Absolute zero is the lowest theoretical temperature, which scientists have defined as minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius). That's even colder than outer space. So far, ...

Absolute zero is often thought to be the coldest temperature possible. But now researchers show they can achieve even lower temperatures for a strange realm of "negative temperatures." Oddly, another ...

Absolute zero is often thought to be the coldest temperature possible. But now researchers show they can achieve even lower temperatures for a strange realm of "negative temperatures." Oddly, another ...

Within quantum mechanics, there has been an observable limit (the quantum backaction limit) on how low you can cool an object experimentally. Up until very recently, that limit had not been challenged ...

The LIGO gravitational wave observatory in the United States is so sensitive to vibrations it can detect the tiny ripples in space-time called gravitational waves. These waves are caused by colliding ...

There's been a lot of buzz lately in the science blogosphere about a recent experiment where physicists created a gas of quantum particles with a negative temperature - negative as in, below absolute ...

The absolute lowest temperature possible is -273.15 degrees Celsius. It is never possible to cool any object exactly to this temperature – one can only approach absolute zero. This is the third law of ...

A set of four mirrors used by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) to detect ripples in space-time have been cooled down so much that they are nearly at their minimum-energy ...

The LIGO gravitational wave observatory in the United States is so sensitive to vibrations it can detect the tiny ripples in space-time called gravitational waves. These waves are caused by colliding ...

Absolute zero is often thought to be the coldest temperature possible. But now researchers show they can achieve even lower temperatures for a strange realm of "negative temperatures." Oddly, another ...