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As such, researchers developed the Cold Atom Lab, which can generate Bose-Einstein
condensates in the microgravity found in orbit aboard the space station. Launched in
2018, the Cold Atom Lab is small and requires only a relatively small amount of energy
so it meets the specific constraints aboard the space station. While the equipment
originally needed to create Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth can take up an entire
lab, the Cold Atom Lab takes up only about 14 cubic feet (0.4 cubic meters) and
altogether requires an average of 510 watts of power.
Using the Cold Atom Lab, researchers in a new study found that they could increase the
amount of time they can analyze these condensates after the traps confining the
material is switched off to more than one second. In comparison, on Earth, scientists
would only have hundredths of a single second for the same task.
In addition, in microgravity, the scientists found that they needed weaker forces to trap
the condensates. This, in turn, means that they could create the condensates at lower
temperatures. And, at these temperatures, exotic quantum effects would become
increasingly pronounced.
So far with this study, the researchers have created Bose-Einstein condensates using
rubidium atoms. Eventually, they also aim to add potassium atoms to investigate what
happens when two condensates mix, the study's senior author Robert Thompson, a
physicist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told Space.com.
Additionally, scientists now seek to use the Cold Atom Lab to create spherical Bose-
Einstein condensates, which can only be created in space, Thompson added.
"In the past, our major insights into the inner workings of nature have come from particle
accelerators and astronomical observatories; in the future, I believe precision
measurements using cold atoms will play an increasingly important role," Thompson
said.
The scientists detailed their findings in the June 11 issue of the journal Nature.
The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy Steps
NASA Created a Rare, Exotic State of Matter in Space
States of Matter: Bose-Einstein Condensate
Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and
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