Astronauts on the International Space Station are working to produce a 5th state of matter

Astronauts on the International Space Station are working to produce a 5th state of matter

To create a peculiar fifth form of matter that did not exist in nature or the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), which is sometimes also known as the superfluid, NASA had sent a box of lasers about the size of a dishwasher to the International Space Station two years ago. This box of lasers is called the CAL or 'Cold Atom Laboratory.'

Albert Einstein and Physicist Satyendra Nath Bose derived theory in 1924 that predicted that atoms could be cooled to a certain point. They could lose their individuality forming a lump of mass, which would act like one individual entity. CAL uses lasers and magnets to bring down the temperature of atoms to within 110-billionth of a degree above absolute zero (minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit).

This new type of matter which is created has been cooled to a temperature lower than interstellar space, by lasers inside a vacuum. It is said to consist of a few million atoms. Scientists can study these atoms more efficiently because quantum studies become easier as these atoms tend to lose their individual characteristics at such low temperature and form a blob by joining together in a cloud.

Although scientists had created the fifth state of matter 25 years ago in 1995, when Bose-Einstein condensates had been made, the force of gravity intervened in the study of these atoms and made them disappear within a fraction of seconds. Scientists have been trying to increase the matter's lifespan ever since. Some have experimented with creating their microgravity by throwing a BEC generating object off a 440-foot tower to get a free-fall, some have conducted weightless experiments inside a rocket, but the results have failed to yield every time.

However, astronauts on the International Space Station have confirmed that the Cold Atom Lab has successfully created the BECs in microgravity, buying scientists way more time to study these atoms than what they got on Earth. Scientists can now study gravitational waves and other sources of energies in the universe like dark energy in detail, as they have consistently created BECs in orbit.

David Aveline, the lead author of this study and a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab told Business Insider, "It was recognized early on that microgravity would come in handy, and going to space would give us a lot of advantages in terms of measurement time." The new report states that this research can help scientists understand the gravity and the theory of the expansion of the universe in greater detail.

The Cold Atom Laboratory has illimitable microgravity and it can collect data over the years to come. "We're getting to make BECs daily, for many hours a day," Aveline said. He also said that CAL is totally controlled by a remote which is being run from computers on the ground, "literally inside our living room." 

He also added, "It is a lot of effort for taking just a few measurements." 

Aveline also thanked astronaut Christina Koch who checks CAL regularly and updates the hardware when needed, as the floating lab checked its two-year mark on space.

BEC has the potential to bridge the gap between classical physics, which deals with the physical world and quantum physics. It further deals with the subatomic realm and describes how the tiniest particles in the universe behave. "They're like the holy grail," of quantum physics, said Aveline.

The CAL also has an atom interferometer which uses BECs to understand the gravitational changes across a planet's surface. This type of measurement will massively help scientists to understand whatever is happening under the Earth's and Moon's surface.

Further, BECs could also be used to detect axions. Axions and solitons are particles which are yet to be seen, but it is believed that dark energy and dark matter which make up the universe are derived from these particles. BECs also have the potential to discover a different source of dark energy.

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