Scientists Create Temperatures Colder Than Absolute Zero en-us Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500 Fri, 26 Dec 2014 01:36:18 -0500 Charles Choi Natural Law of the Universe Tue, 08 Jan 2013 02:30:47 -0500 Wait. I have heard this one before. The perpetual motion machine. Sorry folks. Its total bullshit. immature Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:19:36 -0500 i accidentally thumbed you up. lol. so are you saying energy can't be infinite? You're throwing a lot of verbs -- you say it's not being pushed but it actually is, just pushing to the point of infinity.. or am i missing something :) infinite energy i thought was common knowledge now, it makes me feel either A. nerdy and i like it, or B. heavily misinformed. zero point energy, is this a myth? or is it true? the earths oceans - um.. water engine anyone? those big ass wind mills. - actually i think i remembere reading something negative about it.. more so but i'm too high to remember!! immature Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:13:51 -0500 that cool refreshing drink. not. i prefer cocacola immature Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:13:14 -0500 that image.. subliminal pepsi ad. PT Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:31:09 -0500 Right. Whatever it is they think they've achieved, it isn't a "negative temperature". They have just extrapolated a mathematical equation through a singularity and expect it to continue on the other side. Temperature is DEFINED as the kinetic energy of atoms, which cannot be less than zero. If their theory says it can, the theory is wrong. If their instruments appear to measure it, the instruments are wrong. In other science news, theory predicts that there are fairies at the bottom of my garden. I'm applying for a grant to investigate. NoSingleOne Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:30:50 -0500 I studied chemical physics in grad school before changing careers, so I'm a bit rusty now. The 3rd law states that entropy goes to zero as absolute temperature goes to zero. These laws are only laws because no one has ever seen exceptions to them, though obviously they can theoretically exist. Negative temperatures are like gravitational discontinuities (black holes). They represent a state change of matter beyond the "stable" observable lowest energy state that can't be predicted by quantum mechanics. Other states of matter are possible that we can't conceive of because we don't experience them. Google Bose-Einstein Condensate, for instance. RHack Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:13:07 -0500 The problem with this is energy. I can imagine the "stuff" at rest, or flying apart, or interim. I cannot imagine an 'infinite' point on the loop where the phase,or action of the energy can make this transition without a perpetual 101% efficient. Where is this in nature? Clever postulation, but, like perpetual motion, no actual bridge from here to there. AJJ Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:05:48 -0500 cool Event Horizon Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:52:26 -0500 This is a big nothing and as a physicist I'm surprised this paper got into Science. Laser media, due to their population inversion, display negative temperatures. This is exactly the same thing, except that they did it in cold atoms. And that "new kind of engines" stuff... yeah... that's just nonsense to impress the general public. westerneduchinese Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:46:26 -0500 I only read the first half of the article but I can guarantee you this is WRONG -Violates 2nd (?) law of thermodynamics -how can you have negative information (entropy) ? An honest mistake I believe, not like the crap about the 1T dollar coin.. Screw Drudge Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:21:20 -0500 Mind. Blown. jamesusnvet Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:19:09 -0500 Very exciting!! limto Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:12:43 -0500 cool!