NASA Cold Atom Laboratory, International Space Station

NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory on the International Space Station is regularly the coldest known spot in the universe. But why are scientists producing clouds of atoms a fraction of a degree above absolute zero? And why do they need to do it in space? Quantum physics, of course.

Here’s how CAL is helping scientists learn more about the physics behind things like miniaturized technology and the fundamental nature of the particles that make up everything we see.