Who knew lasers could be used to keep something cold?
621 views · Published 30 September 2009 · 3:15 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: Rice University · 2009 · Education
Forget solids, liquids and gases. Plasmas are, by far, the most abundant state of matter, accounting for about 99 percent of the visible matter in the universe. But youre not likely to encounter plasma here on Earth. Strongly interacting plasmas naturally occur only in very dense and energetic environments where it isnt possible to set up a laboratory, such as a white dwarf star. Rice University physicist Tom Killian remains unfazed. Hes one of a growing group of researchers worldwide who are unlocking some of the mysteries of plasmas by doing something nature never does — freezing them to less than a degree above absolute zero.
