Space Station Laser Trap Chills Atoms to 10 Picokelvins, a Record

Scientists have set a new record for the coldest temperature ever recorded, according to Live Science: 10 picokelvins, barely above absolute zero. The measurement came from an experiment aboard China's Tiangong space station, where a laser trap held a cloud of atoms nearly motionless.

The team reported the result Nov. 5 in the journal Science. They say the achievement could open the way to a new generation of space-based experiments in quantum simulation and precision measurements.

The record by the numbers

• 10 picokelvins: the temperature the atoms reached, just above absolute zero, the coldest temperature physics allows in theory.
• Minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius): absolute zero, the point at which all particles in an object are believed to stop moving.
• 20,000: the number of rubidium atoms the team placed in the trap to restrict their motion.
• 52 picokelvins: the level reached in similar experiments on the International Space Station, according to Science News.
• 38 picokelvins: the level reached by atoms during a weightless fall from a tall tower, Science News added.

How the atoms got so cold

The researchers used what are known as optical tweezers, formally called an optical-dipole trap. It holds atoms in place inside a laser beam. Confining the atoms limited how much they could move, and that reduced motion, combined with the weightlessness of the station's low-gravity environment, let the cloud cool far below what is possible on Earth.

Live Science, citing Science News, reported that microgravity helps because it allows atoms to float, which makes the cooling more efficient. The team used the weightless atoms to create a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this quantum state of matter, very cold atoms clump together and behave much like a single atom. It is sometimes described as a fifth state of matter.

Why absolute zero stays out of reach

Despite the record, scientists doubt anyone will ever reach absolute zero. Live Science explained that one reading of the third law of thermodynamics holds that particles would always retain some disorder, known as entropy, which makes absolute zero unattainable.

Saibal Mitra, a physics professor at Missouri State University, told Live Science in a 2024 interview that one version of the law says reaching absolute zero would take an infinite number of steps. He added that reaching it would also break the second law of thermodynamics, which says entropy always increases. A heat sink at absolute zero, he said, would make it possible to build a machine that is 100% efficient.

What this means for future research

For most readers, the result is not something that changes daily life. Its importance lies in what it shows about doing delicate physics in orbit. The researchers wrote that the record-low temperature could stimulate a new wave of experiments built on optical-dipole traps, in quantum simulation and in precision measurements in space.

The team also said the results could help improve future space-based research. The finding adds the Tiangong station to a short list of weightless settings where atoms have been pushed to extreme cold, alongside the International Space Station and the tall-tower drop experiments.

The study, titled Quantum gases below 10 picokelvin in space, was published in Science in 2026. It was led by a team of Chinese scientists. As with any single study, the result will need to be tested and built on by other research groups before its full value is clear.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by Live Science

Cover photo: BugWarp / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped