Chinese scientists chill atoms to record low on Tiangong space station

Chinese scientists have chilled atoms aboard the Tiangong space station to the lowest temperature ever measured, smashing US and German records and paving the way for ultra-precise space sensors that could find hidden minerals, track climate change and test Einstein’s theory of gravity.

Researchers from Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences brought thousands of rubidium atoms, packed into a cloud smaller than a grain of sand, to less than 10 trillionths of a degree above absolute...