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China's Tiangong Space Station Sets Record for Coldest Temperature
Confirmed
In Short: Scientists aboard China's Tiangong space station achieved a record-low temperature of about 10 trillionths of a kelvin in a Bose-Einstein condensate experiment.
Scientists aboard China's Tiangong space station have achieved a record-low temperature of about 10 trillionths of a kelvin in a Bose-Einstein condensate experiment, barely above absolute zero (−273.15° Celsius).
The experiment, conducted in microgravity conditions, utilized the apparent weightlessness of atoms to reach this unprecedented temperature. Microgravity allows atoms to spread more slowly, enabling scientists to define an effective temperature based on their behavior.
To achieve this record-low temperature, researchers took their work to space, where the unique conditions of microgravity provided an ideal environment for the experiment.
The global average surface air temperature reached 16.96°C in August, matching July 2023 as the highest recorded for any month and putting temperatures 1.65°C above the 19th-century pre-industrial average.
Meanwhile, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, fed by the Colorado River, hit record-low levels in August 2026, continuing a trend of water scarcity.
The UK recorded its hottest summer since records began in 1884, with an average temperature of 16.5°C, exceeding last year's record by 0.4°C.
England's driest July on record contributed to drought declarations across half the country, with 54 weather stations breaking daily maximum temperature records.
What this adds
The experiment on the Tiangong space station achieved a temperature of about 10 trillionths of a kelvin, which is barely above absolute zero.
The global average surface air temperature reached 16.96°C in August, matching July 2023 as the highest recorded for any month and putting temperatures 1.65°C above the 19th-century pre-industrial average.
Background
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) celebrated Halloween with creative costumes and completed the installation of the seventh International Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA).
Two astronauts, NASA's Anil Menon and the Canadian Space Agency's Joshua Kutryk, successfully installed the seventh International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) on Thursday, October 26, 2026, during a spacewalk that lasted seven hours and 11 minutes.
What's confirmed
- Scientists aboard China's Tiangong space station have achieved a record-low temperature of about 10 trillionths of a kelvin in a Bose-Einstein condensate experiment, barely above absolute zero (−273.15° Celsius).
- The experiment, conducted in microgravity conditions, utilized the apparent weightlessness of atoms to reach this unprecedented temperature. Microgravity allows atoms to spread more slowly, enabling scientists to define an effective temperature based on their behavior.
- To achieve this record-low temperature, researchers took their work to space, where the unique conditions of microgravity provided an ideal environment for the experiment.
- The global average surface air temperature reached 16.96°C in August, matching July 2023 as the highest recorded for any month and putting temperatures 1.65°C above the 19th-century pre-industrial average.
- Meanwhile, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, fed by the Colorado River, hit record-low levels in August 2026, continuing a trend of water scarcity.
- The UK recorded its hottest summer since records began in 1884, with an average temperature of 16.5°C, exceeding last year's record by 0.4°C.
- England's driest July on record contributed to drought declarations across half the country, with 54 weather stations breaking daily maximum temperature records.
What's still developing
- About a month prior, it had dipped below the previous record-low level of 3,519.92 feet, set on April 13, 2023, and continued to tick downward in early September.
- “We've really seen the impact across Europe of how maladapted we are, with roads melting, train lines buckling, schools closing, hospitals completely overwhelmed, and record wildfires for the time of year,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
- The past three years were the three warmest ever recorded, and the Met Office says 2027 is "very likely" to replace 2024 as the warmest year on record.
- Existing studies suggest AMOC strengthening during DO events occurred within decades, but this rests on ice-core δ 18 O records, a signal influenced by both temperature and moisture source.
- "U–Th dating gives us precise absolute ages, but it cannot give reliable relative ages. The annual laminae let us precisely constrain how long each transition lasted, and compare that directly with the Greenland ice-core records."
- Speleothem δ 18 O from India and southwest China responds directly to AMOC-driven changes, offering an independent test – but existing records lacked the chronology and annual-layer constraints needed to quantify transition rates.
- August was the joint hottest month ever observed, tying with July 2023, as the most severe super El Niño on record amplified temperatures already heightened by global warming.
- August was also a record warm month for the extra-polar ocean – the regions lying just outside the Arctic and Antarctic circles – peaking at 21.1°C, the hottest temperature ever observed in the sea surface.
Sources
- Science Newslink
- South China Morning Postlink
- E360link
- NASAlink
- Thevibeslink
- Popscilink
- BBClink
- Miragenewslink
- Newscientistlink
- Thenationalnewslink
- WarpBeat — background on Halloween Aboard the International Space Station link
- WarpBeat — background on Astronauts Install Seventh Solar Array on International Space Station link