Record-low temperature reached on China's space station

· Science · China

Atoms orbiting Earth aboard China's space station have reached about 10 trillionths of a kelvin, a record-low temperature, according to a report. The achievement relies on mitigating gravity's effects, which normally disturb ultracold atom experiments on the ground. Ultra-cold atoms are a platform for precision measurement and quantum research, and doing this work in orbit opens a path that ground-based laboratories cannot easily replicate.

Why it matters：Space-based ultracold atom labs could extend quantum sensing and fundamental-physics tests beyond what ground facilities allow, intensifying a race among spacefaring nations in orbital quantum science.

Key points

  • Atoms reached about 10 trillionths of a kelvin.
  • Gravity's effects were mitigated to enable the result.
  • The experiment ran aboard China's space station.

Sources (original reporting)

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