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Absolute Zero: Temperatures
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Well, Absolute Zero is one of the arguments scientists use to prove that the Big Bang happened. Theory has it that the heat of the Big Bang was diffused throughout the entire universe, so there is no place in the universe that is naturally lower than 2.73 Kelvin, to date.(Humans have achieved lower temperatures than 3°K, but that isn't considered natural.) Initially, our universe was very hot, but as time passed by (some 700,000 years), the universe began to spread out and cool down; This is why the temperature in space is so cold. Measurements of the temperature were made by the COBE satellite in 1989. The 2.73 Kelvin (rounded up to 3)Rule is called the "3 Degree Kelvin Background Radiation". Therefore, there are places in the universe where the molecules are moving in serious slow-mo, but are not absolutely motionless. For more information about this phenomenon, go to http://www.csep10.phys.utk.edu.
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Absolute Zero is a scientific detective story about a remarkable group of pioneers who wanted to reach the ultimate extreme in temperature. This two-part programme is an epic journey from dark beginnings to an ultra-cool frontier.
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Absolute Zero is a two-part public television special that is scheduled to air in 2007. The programs will demonstrate how civilization has been profoundly affected by the mastery of cold. They are a unique blend of science, cultural history and adventure story, and will explore key concepts, significant individuals and events in the field of low-temperature physics to show the enormous impact that the mastery of cold has had on society through such technologies as air conditioning, refrigeration and liquefied gases.
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Absolute zero cannot be reached experimentally, although it can be closely approached. Special procedures are needed to reach very low, or cryogenic, temperatures see Cryogenics. Liquid helium, which has a normal boiling point of 4.2 K (-268.9° C/-452.0° F), can be produced by cryostats, extremely well-insulated vessels, based on a design by the American mechanical engineer Samuel Collins. If the helium is then evaporated at reduced pressures, temperatures as low as 0.7 K can be obtained. Lower temperatures require the adiabatic (no heat transfer) demagnetization of paramagnetic substances (substances of low magnetizability), such as chrome alum, while they are being surrounded with a liquid helium bath see Thermodynamics. The method, which was first developed in 1937 by the Canadian-American chemist William Giauque, utilizes a magnetic field that initially aligns the ionic magnets of the material.
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Science writer Tom Shachtman compiled a history of the search for ways to find and measure absolute zero, starting in 1620. In that summer, Cornelis Drebbels promised to air-condition the Great Hall of Westminster Abbey in London, which he did. This story is told in the first chapter. The narrative shifts to what was known about refrigeration, temperature, and explanations of cold.
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The two-part special “Absolute Zero” presents the epic story of humanity’s struggle to master extreme cold. This NOVA special re-creates groundbreaking discoveries across four centuries that expanded our knowledge of low temperatures and led ultimately to today’s cutting edge “cold technologies.” Its memorable characters range from a 17th-century court magician who rigged a primitive form of air conditioning in Westminster Abbey to the original Captain Birdseye, who invented frozen food.
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