A temperature of absolute zero is impossible to reach

Everything with a temperature above absolute zero emits light at nearly all wavelengths

Thermal radiation results from random motions of particles that make up an object, which only theoretically cease at 0 Kelvin, or -273.15 degrees Celsius. The greatest intensity of thermal radiation, also known as blackbody radiation, is emitted at a characteristic wavelength corresponding to the object's surface temperature.

Despite claims of limitless free energy, zero-point energy cannot be harnessed

Because quantum mechanics prevents systems from ever reaching an energy value of zero, a seemingly empty vacuum of space still contains some amount of energy associated with its lowest allowed state. Since descending to even lower states is forbidden, extracting meaningful amounts of energy from an empty vacuum is impossible.

The properties of helium, which has the lowest boiling point of any element

The colorless, odorless, mainly unreactive element condenses from a gas into a liquid at -268.928 degrees Celsius (-452.07 degrees Fahrenheit)—near the lowest theoretically possible temperature—allowing it to serve as a liquid coolant in machines without the risk of causing damage as a solid.

Temperatures colder than Pluto can allow electricity to flow resistance-free

Since its discovery in 1911, applications of superconductivity have made MRI machines and maglev trains possible due to quantum effects at extreme temperatures. These effects are modeled as electrons cooperating in pairs and flowing more efficiently.

Thermodynamics makes building data centers in space to cool equipment impractical

Rather than cooling via interactions with flowing cold air or water, data centers in space would dissipate energy primarily by radiation, in which an object at any temperature above absolute zero emits light. This method is much less efficient at cooling and would require hyperscale data centers to have radiator panels thousands of times larger than those on the International Space Station.

How 'vibes' factor into scientists' decisions about using certain units

Although there are absolute quantities from which units can be defined, such as the speed of light and the corresponding light year for distance, the usefulness of units comes from their ability to easily communicate values, rather than how fundamental their origins are. For example, while Kelvin measures absolute temperature, Celsius is scaled to the temperatures of boiling and freezing water, making them more practical for everyday usage.

Without greenhouse gases, Earth's average surface temperature would be below freezing

Atmospheric molecules that absorb and emit infrared radiation from the planet's surface effectively trap additional incident solar energy that would otherwise escape to space. Without the greenhouse effect, the planet's average surface temperature would be approximately -18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit).

The heat death of the universe will mark the perceptive end of time

Under this scenario, all matter and energy will be scattered as far out as possible, with no stars left to produce measurable light between objects. With no way of observing changes or increasing the disorder of the universe further, events could not be distinguished from one another, and time would lose meaning.

Understanding the 1.5 degree Celsius climate benchmark

As more parts of the world are facing extreme weather, from high temperatures to increased natural disasters, there is much debate about what can be done. MIT News explores and explains the 1.5-degree benchmark for limiting the effects of climate change. Read to understand where the planet stands in relation to this threshold and what can be done at the global, regional, and personal levels to “keep 1.5 alive.”

Images of quantum computers often depict dilution refrigerators

While quantum computers themselves can have a microchip of silicon spin qubits or other trapped particles that make up quantum computing's basic unit, these components are too small to see on their own. However, such chips are located at the base of chandelier-shaped machines that keep temperatures near absolute zero.

What is a singularity?

It's hard to imagine a singularity, which are described as an infinitely tiny point, created by gravity, until it has zero volume. The definition feels impossible, though perhaps not at the center of a black hole or at the beginning of the universe. Even then, singularities may be something else entirely. Singularities are a mathematical quandary that challenge us to better understand physics and the universe.

Scientific progress works toward absolute truth, but can never reach it

Through the acquisition of scientific knowledge, scientists construct explanations of the world, which are rigorously tested and verified until they narrow down to a leading theory of the natural world. However, because of how science works, these ideas will never become factual, as they must always remain open to be iteratively revision based on new data.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

What is a calorie?

Today it may go without thinking that we measure food by calories...but where did this come from and what does it mean? A kilo-calorie (or, as we call it, simply "calorie") is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one...

Dive into the ocean's hottest water to explore hydrothermal vents

What can live at temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit under skull crushing pressure with zero sunlight? Meet the animals living in the most extreme conditions on Earth in this four-minute video.

Zero-g rides get their name from the weightless sensation of being turned upside down

Inversions are when riders are flipped upside down on rides. Zero-g rolls involve turning 360 degrees with inversions, resulting in a temporary experience of zero g-force for passengers.

Universal limit to technological development may prevent finding alien civilizations

Given the vastness of the Universe, detecting alien life may require technological progress beyond the limits of what is sociologically viable and physically possible. Although interstellar civilizations are unlikely, messaging techniques and probes may improve the odds of successful communication with other intelligent life.

Uncertainties in measurements make finding gravity's Newtonian limit unclear

Although Newton's "universal" law is unreliable in strong gravitational fields when compared with the field equations of general relativity, it is still taught for its accuracy on everyday scales. However, gravity's effect on small scales is too weak to be measured reliably, its accuracy at atomic scales remains unknown.

There may be 74,963 kinds of ice, resulting from water molecules rearranging themselves

The theoretical limit greatly expands the known types of ice, with type Iₕ being the most common on Earth and forming hexagonal crystals. The extreme environments of planets like Uranus and Neptune can create a variety of ice with unique structures and properties, as these conditions can reshape these crystals into new geometries.

Null Island: the most real fictional island you can almost visit

This article explores Null Island, which can be found on most maps at exactly 0° latitude and 0° longitude. If someone were to paddle out to those coordinates, they'd find themselves in front of a buoy named Soul off the west coast of Africa. User...

A magnitude 25 earthquake would release enough energy to destroy the sun

Since Richter and moment magnitude scales rank earthquake energies logarithmically, theoretical magnitude values can cover an enormous range with no upper or lower mathematical limit. A particle of dust drifting onto a table would have a magnitude of about -15.

According to special relativity, time travel cannot change history

Although time travel is allowed—because all moments of the past, present, and future exist simultaneously and are locked in place—you will be unable to alter events beyond those that you changed because you were there before your travel to the past, including doing something to change your existence.

Explore a simulation of ideal gas behavior, which can be explained by kinetic molecular theory

The theory describes particles as moving in random directions, with a distribution of velocities determined by the gas's temperature. The particles collide elastically like billiard balls, are negligibly small, and do not exert forces on one another. The gas laws can be derived from these principles using statistics or observed via this interactive.

The Kármán line is a suggested boundary between Earth and outer space

Beyond this line, approximately 100 kilometers above Earth's surface, aerodynamic lift is insufficient to keep aircraft aloft without special propulsion systems. The United Nations has historically accepted the line as delineating the boundary of space.

Freezer burn is the result of moisture leaving ice cream

The ice cream death knell occurs when water crystals melt and then refreeze on the surface of the treat, creating a crunchy (but far from delectable) shell. The best way to prevent this unfortunate outcome is by storing your ice cream in a freezer that’s colder than 0°F.

The Federal Reserve can set interest rates below zero

Interest rates, the cost of borrowing money, are the primary tool the Federal Reserve uses to control inflation. During periods of deflation, setting interest rates below zero penalizes saving, encourages banks to lend more and moves more cash through the economy.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Track the location of the Voyager probes, currently between 13 and 15 billion miles away from Earth.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.