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The space is a cool place, but the scientists aboard the International Space Station are about to make it a little colder – temporarily, at least. The team is about to start a small device called the Cold Atom Lab to plunge atoms into temperatures close to absolute zero
As reported NBC Mach experiments will focus on particle motions that are just barely above absolute zero – the theoretical temperature in which all motion stops – in order to observe some of the quirks of quantum mechanics. If you've ever been looking at quantum mechanics based research, you already know things are going to be weird.
For an example of how things can be weird in the world of quantum physics, just look at the launch of a Chinese satellite from early 2017. The satellite used a strange oddity known under the name of quantum entanglement to send a message "impossible to capture" nearly 750 miles on Earth.
Quantum entanglement allows two particles called "twins" to behave even though they are separated by incredibly long distances. Any kind of interaction with one of the particles will cause the other particle to react in the same way, almost as if the two particles were actually one, existing in two places at the same time. It's something really mind-boggling, but it's quite real, and scientists are eager to learn more about it.
By cooling the particles to incredibly low temperatures, scientists have a better opportunity to observe the behavior of these particles. The low density environment of the space station makes it an ideal location for this kind of test, and will give researchers more time to observe cooled particle clouds before they decompose.
The work will actually be done by scientists here. Earth, and the small laboratory will not require any assistance from the crew of the space station. Remote experiments can be done for nearly seven hours a day, giving researchers enough time to try to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
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