Tropical Storm Danny (2009)

Storm Active: August 26-29

On August 20, a tropical wave moved off Africa. It showed little signs of organization, but it was monitored for development. The cloud cover diminished on August 22, but flared up again on August 23, as the wave interacted with an upper-level low to its northwest. The low, sheered the system, but it also fueled increasing convection around the wave over the next two days. As the tropical wave passed under the low on August 25, sheer lessened, and more organization was evident. The wave ad strong enough winds to be considered a tropical storm, but still lacked a specific center of circulation. However, this appeared on the morning of August 26, and the wave-low interaction was upgraded directly to Tropical Storm Danny. Danny had most cloud activity to the northeast of the center, and wasn't that organized. Despite this, stronger winds were found in the system and Danny strengthened, reaching its peak intensity of 60 mph winds and a pressure of 1006 millibars that night. Danny was heading generally northwest, but meandered north of the Bahamas, sometimes going west, north, even south. As Danny slowly made its way towards the U.S. east coast on August 27, it encountered less favorable conditions and began to weaken as its convection became increasingly displaced to the east of its center. By August 28, Danny was a minimal tropical storm, and was steered more northerly by a ridge of high pressure of the southeastern United States. Early on August 29, Danny was downgraded to a tropical depression off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The last advisory was issued at 5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time that morning as Danny merged with a frontal low pressure system in the Northeast. Danny helped to enhance the moisture in the region even more, causing 2-4 inches of rain over various areas of New England. The merged low and accompanying frontal boundary continued northeast, eventually causing heavy rain in the Canadian Maritime on August 30. Danny, having never made landfall as a tropical system, caused little damage, and one fatality resulted from rip currents on the coast of North Carolina.



Visible satellite image of Danny while maintaining its peak. The center is highly evident as a swirl of clouds well outside the cloud cover, which is all east of the center.



Track of Danny.

Tropical Storm Claudette (2009)

Storm Active: August 16-17

On August 11, a scattered area of showers and thunderstorms became associated with a tropical wave over the Bahamas. The wave showed little to no organization over the next few days as it moved westward, and tracked south of Florida. On August 15, upon entering the Gulf of Mexico, the wave became significantly better organized, and on August 16, was classified Tropical Depression Four, with 35 mph winds and a central pressure of 1011 millibars. Later that same day, Tropical Depression Four became Tropical Storm Claudette. The system quickly reached its peak intensity of 50 mph winds that evening. Overnight, technically very early on August 17, Eastern Standard Time, Claudette made landfall in the panhandle of Florida. The system's central pressure briefly decreased after landfall, but then Claudette became a remnant low late on August 17. For a few more hours, the remnants of Claudette continued northwest, before it dissipated on August 18. Two fatalities occurred as a result of this system, and damages totaled around $1.2 million.



Claudette near peak intensity in the Gulf of Mexico.



Track of Claudette.

Hurrricane Bill (2009)

Storm Active; August 15-24

On August 11, a strong tropical wave moved off Africa. It took a few days to organize, but on August 15, it became Tropical Depression Three, with 35 mph winds and a pressure of 1006 millibars. A few hours later, Three became Tropical Storm Bill. Unlike the previous storm Ana, Bill quickly stregthened and became the first hurricane of the 2009 season on August 17 with 75 mph winds and a pressure of 987 millibars. It took a west-north-west track, which allowed for more favorable conditions. Inside the well-organized circulation, eyewall and eye structures quickly formed. A large area of high pressure kept Bill on this track, as it continued to gain strength. By August 18, it was a Category 2, with 100 mph winds and a pressure of 967 millibars. Then, overnight, Bill rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 135 mph and a pressure of 948 millibars. Later that same day, Bill made its closest approach to the northeasternmost islands of the Caribbean, causing high surf but no other effects. On August 20, the ridge of high pressure keeping Bill to the south weakened, allowing Bill to take a northward turn. Bill slowly weakened, and on August 21, began to batter Bermuda with tropical storm force winds as a Category 2. Bill continued north, accelerating over time, and brushed Cape Cod with its outer bands causing huge surf and rip currents. On August 23, Bill's center paralleled the coast of Nova Scotia, staying barely offshore. At this time, Bill was turning east and was a minimal Category 1 hurricane. Late that night Bill made a landfall in Newfoundland and had passed by a mere six hours later. Early on August 24, Bill was a tropical storm, and, going east at 43 mph, Bill finally became extratropical. It continued eastward, and its extratropical remnants eventually brought wind and rain to Great Britain and surrounding areas. Bill caused two fatalities, both as a result of high surf on the east coast of the U.S.

Sorry, but an image of Hurricane Bill is not currently available on this website. To see one, click here.



Track of Bill.

Tropical Storm Ana (2009)

Storm Active: August 11-17

On August 8, a strong tropical wave emerged off Africa. It showed a lot of organization, and therefore was classified a tropical depression on August 11. Tropical Depression Two had 30 mph winds and an internal pressure of 1006 millibars on its first advisory, but it showed signs of strengthening. It also had minor effects on the southern Cape Verde Islands. Tropical Depression Two became more organized on August 12, when convection became more defined and covered the center of circulation. However, the system was still a tropical depression with 35 mph winds and a pressure of 1006 millibars. That night, however, the depression lost its cloud cover due to wind sheer, and weakened back to 30 mph winds on August 13. Despite some regeneration of the convection later that day, it was downgraded to a remnant low. However, cloud cover came back to the system slowly and on August 15, it became Tropical Depression Two once again. Then, six hours later, it became the first named storm of the 2009 season with its peak intensity of 40 mph winds and a pressure 1005 millibars. The newly named Tropical Storm Ana continued westward and interacted with the easternmost islands of the Caribbean, causing little damage. Only rain and some tropical storm force winds resulted. As it plowed deeply into wind sheer, the system weakened and became Tropical Depression Ana south of Puerto Rico. It brought periods of showers and winds to the island, before becoming a remnant low on August 17. The low continued west-north-west over the next few days, and dissipated near Florida on August 19. Damage from Ana was minimal and no fatalities resulted from this system.



Tropical Depression Two before dissipating and regenerating into Tropical Storm Ana.



Track of Ana.

Lack of Hurricane Activity in the Atlantic Basin in 2009

In the first two months of the hurricane season, i.e. up to the end of July, typically only one tropical cyclone has occurred in the north Atlantic Basin, but in the last decade, an average of three named storms have already occurred by this point. Also in the last decade, there has been about a fifty percent chance of a hurricane forming before July 31.

Tropical Depression One has been the only storm of the season, and it formed before the season started, in May, making it a preseason storm. Since then, hardly any activity has occurred and no cyclones have formed. The very opposite of this has happened in the East Pacific Basin, where, after a late start, five tropical cyclones, four of them named, and two of them hurricanes formed before July 31.

Some potential for tropical cyclone formation was present in June, and a fair amount of tropical waves came and dissipated during that time. However, an El Nino event (see here) that had been building for months reached strength in early July, stopping anything from forming. The current prediction is for a near average hurricane season with 11 named storms. However, the current trend may end in a below average season, the first since 2006, and before that, 1997. Both of these seasons' source of inactivity was an El Nino as well.

Despite this, there are exceptions. In 2004, no storms formed until August 1, which is a very late start. However, the 2004 season went on to have 15 named storms, with 9 hurricanes and 6 major hurricanes, along with over 3,100 fatalities, making it one of the most damaging seasons ever.

Hurricane activity is very unpredictable, and a lot may happen between the end of July, and the end of November which marks the end of the hurricane season.

Sources: National Hurricane Center, and wikipedia (which got its information from the National Hurricane Center)

El Nino and La Nina

El Nino and La Nina are two phenomena that concern pressure differences over the Pacific Ocean and have effects all over the world, most specifically on North and South America. El Nino and La Nina conditions are defined by the pressure of the air above the northeastern Pacific Ocean. During an El Nino, a low pressure system is situated over this region, and during a La Nina, a high pressure is situated over this region. Although low and high pressure systems come and go, some areas of the world generally have a low pressure or high pressure over them. One example of this is the Bermuda high, which is a high pressure over the Bermuda area during the summer months. When this high pressure is weaker, it allows tropical cyclones to curve off the east coast of the United States and not impact land, but when it is strong, it acts as a barrier, and tropical cyclones are pushed into making landfall along the Atlantic coast.



An example of a weak Bermuda high. Tropical cyclones are able to curve eastward without affecting land



An example of a strong Bermuda high. Tropical cyclones are pushed into the U.S. This condition was present during the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and these were some of the worst and most active in history.

Minor El Nino and La Nina conditions are common and usually only last a few months. But a long term event, or episode, occurs every five to seven years. An El Nino has the effect of letting a stronger Jet Stream enter the United States, which causes wet weather in the Midwest and South, and cool weather in the north. During a La Nina, the high pressure system in the Pacific severely weakens the Jet Stream and prevents moisture from reaching the Midwest and South. Therefore, there is dry weather in this region. El Nino and La Nina conditions also affect tropical cyclone formation. The strong Jet Stream during an El Nino causes a strong west to east wind along the tropics, causing intense wind shear (for the effects of a strong Jet Stream, see The Dagger of Death) which rips tropical cyclones apart. During a La Nina event, the lack of wind shear allows more tropical cyclones to form. A recent example of tropical cyclone formation hindered by an El Nino was 2006, when only 10 storms formed. Also, due to the effect of the Jet Stream on the Bermuda High, the only strong hurricanes of this season didn't affect land.



The effects of El Nino and La Nina.

El Nino and La Nina also affect water temperature, and therefore fish migrations. The fish migrations, in turn, affect the fishing business and therefore the economy. Although the results of El Nino and La Nina seem minor, they start many chains of events that change things in many different topics in many different parts of the world.

Sources: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010000/a010069/index.html (images), wikipedia (some information and image)

Tropical Depression One (2009)

Storm Active: May 28-29

A low pressure system formed on May 27 off the coast of North Carolina. Drifting northeast, the low showed no signs of development until, on May 28, it rapidly strengthened into Tropical Depression One with 35 mph winds and a pressure of 1007 millibars. The convection associated with the system was tight, and therefore didn't affect any landmass. The depression continued east-north-east into May 29, when, at its peak intensity of 35 mph winds and a pressure of 1006 millibars, the circulation began to separate from the clouds associated with it. Soon after it became extratropical and was absorbed by a frontal boundary. Tropical Depression One was a preseason storm, and therefore the 2009 season is the third consecutive season with a storm forming before June 1. No land was affected by this system.



Tropical Depression One in the Northwest Atlantic.



Track of One.

Hurricane Names List-2009

For the Atlantic Basin in 2009, the names list is as follows

Ana (used)
Bill (used)
Claudette (used)
Denny (used)
Erika (used)
Fred (used)
Grace (used)
Henri (used)
Ida (used)
Joaquin
Kate
Larry
Mindy
Nicholas
Odette
Peter
Rose
Sam
Teresa
Victor
Wanda

The names Fred, Ida, and Joaquin replaced the names Fabian, Isabel, and Juan which were retired in the 2003 season.

Heat and Its Relation to the Early Universe

Heat is what we depend on for life, warmth, and the existence of galaxies, stars, and planets. However, heat had another meaning in the very early Universe. Heat equaled movement and instability and the huge amount of heat caused particles to move around and annihilate each other causing chaos and confusion. Much of these hyperactive particles' movement happened in the first second of the Universe, creating what we know today. To encompass all temperatures, the Kelvin scale is used. Beginning at room temperature, or 293 K, we begin our journey into extreme heat, and the fascinating phenomena that occur there.

At 310 K, or 98.4 F, is the average temperature of the human body, closely followed by the boiling point of water, at 373.15 K. Note that all main states of matter of water occur naturally: solid, liquid and gas. However, the gas form, water vapor, can be attained in average temperatures by the Sun's heat and the movement of particles. At 1900 K, we reach the temperature of the nose of the Space Shuttle, during re-entry. The supercharged ionosphere (filled with ionized gas, hence the name) is a factor, along with friction, that heats the spacecraft to this temperature. As you get higher, metals start to boil, such as lead, which boils into a gas at 2022 K, or about 4000 degrees Fahrenheit.

At 3000 K, we reach our first important milestone on the backwards journey towards the Big Bang on the scale of extreme heat. The Universe had settled down to this still extreme temperature about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. It is at this time that the Cosmic Background Radiation was emitted* (see footnote below this paragraph). In fact, this is the first time that the Universe was transparent. The Cosmic Background Radiation wasn't emitted until this time, because electrons and anti-electrons (the electron's antimatter pair) were still annihilating each other and turning into photons. In the case of antimatter, there were approximately one million antiparticles for every one million and one regular particles. On contact the pairs destroyed each other and became photons. And the next second, the photons would transmit their energy into mass, and immediately create another electron and another anti-electron. This process stopped when the temperature dropped below 3000 K because the photons lost energy as the Universe expanded, and eventually, they didn't have enough energy to become electrons anymore. Gamma rays are the only waves that have enough energy to produce such particles. Overall, after this time, the net result was one particle left for every one million original particle pairs, (note that this slight amount of matter left in the Universe became everything we know today: galaxies, planets and stars) and a whole bunch of photons. These photons have been causing the Cosmic Background Radiation ever since, for the past 13.7 billion years. This also is the first time in the Universe that complete atoms existed.

*Note that I could call it the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation as it is called today, but I will refrain from doing so due to the fact that the radiation originated as gamma and X-rays and over time, the wave lost energy and became a microwave. The different waves are distinguished by their frequency, or the distance between "crests" in the curvy line that is the wave. The frequency of the CBR (this of course being the acronym for Cosmic Background Radiation) drops as the Universe expands, and thus if the Universe continues to expand the frequency will get longer and longer, until all Cosmic Background Radiation will become radio waves.

Suddenly, we jump to 13,000,000 K, the temperature required for the proton-proton cycle and the fusion of Hydrogen nuclei into Helium nuclei. (see the post Burning Hydrogen) This is also the temperature of the Sun's core, and the temperature in the Universe about 20 minutes after its formation. This temperature in the early Universe formed the first atomic nuclei heavier than H1. (the Hydrogen nucleus consisting of one proton) The process in which the first Helium, Lithium, and Deuterium atoms were formed in this time period was called Big Bang Nucleosythesis. Big Bang Nucleosythesis lasted approximately from 3-20 minutes after the Big Bang. At this time, hyperactive electrons were still at the point where they couldn't settle down into completed atoms, and real atoms (electrons and all) weren't formed until a while after. This is because of the ongoing electron-photon reactions, see above.



The proton-proton cycle of fusion in the Sun.  Notice how neutrinos (marked v) and the positrons (anti-electrons represented by white dots) are emitted during the reaction. Also, the gamma rays are the heat and energy released from the reaction, and absorbed by the Earth. The process begins with four Hydrogen nuclei and ends with one Helium nucleus.

At 10 billion K, atomic nuclei break down and proton and anti-proton reactions occur. This temperature occurred naturally in the Universe at about one second after the Big Bang. This milestone in temperature marked the end of the hadron epoch, which lasted from one millionth of a second to one second after the Big Bang. As with electron and anti-electrons, protons and anti-protons annihilate each other on contact, forming photons. Also, since a byproduct of this reaction is the production of the tiny neutrino (a small particle possessing nearly no mass), a wave of neutrinos was released at the end of the epoch, forming the less known brother of the Cosmic Background Radiation, the Cosmic Neutrino Radiation. Since the neutrinos move at close to the speed of light, and the speed of them is known, they would probably be an even more accurate Universe clock-if they could be detected. Unlike other particles, neutrinos are so minuscule that they pass directly through ordinary matter, and barely ever make contact with other particles, such as protons. In fact, the Sun emits so many of these tiny particles that in the time that it takes to say "neutrino", 50 trillion of these particles pass through you!

At about 1,000,000,000,000 or one trillion K, the heat breaks down the hadrons themselves into the even tinier particles inside them, the quarks. The Universe dropped below this temperature at one millionth of a second after the Big Bang, at before this, from one trillionth to one millionth of a second after the creation of the Universe, was the Quark Epoch. During this epoch, the entire Universe was a sea of quarks and gluons. The gluon is the (somewhat hypothetical) particle that binds quarks together into hadrons. The substance of the Universe during this time was quark-gluon plasma, (for more info on plasma, see here) or a sea of ionized quarks mixed with gluons. Before this point however, the four forces of the Universe: gravity (the force that pulls heavy objects together), electromagnetism (the connections and effects of electricity and magnetism), the weak nuclear force (the force that causes radioactive decay) and the strong nuclear force (the force that binds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus, and, at a smaller scale, also binds together quarks within particles such as protons and neutrons) start to break down and the physics we know today start to change even at fundamental levels.



A representation of the internal structure of a proton. The quarks labeled "u" are up quarks and each have a charge of 2/3. The quark labeled "d" is a down quark and has a charge of -1/3. The wavy lines represented the strong nuclear force, carried by the gluon. Notice that the charges of the quarks, 2/3+2/3-1/3=1 add to form a charge of +1, which is the charge of a proton.

At one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang, the forces begin to unify. The first two forces to unify are the electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force, forming what is called the electroweak force. This state only can occur at a temperature at about 1,000,000,000,000,000 K, or one million billion Kelvin. To unify these forces in theory, one must come up with a set of physical and mathematical laws that cover both forces. This has already been done for the electroweak force. The strongly hypothetical particles that carry these forces have been explained and unified, but beyond this, it gets even trickier.

At higher than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 K, or one million billion trillion K, the next unification occurs, this time between the electroweak force and the strong nuclear force to form what is known as the electronuclear force. The theory connecting all three of these forces is called the Grand Unification Theory. This unites nearly all of quantum physics. This force only existed during the Grand Unification Epoch (aptly named) from 10^-43 seconds to 10^-36 seconds after the Big Bang. The electroweak and the strong nuclear force have been unified in theory, but there is still some disagreement about the force's exact nature.

Finally, we reach the hottest, densest, shortest epoch of this Universe, in which the remaining fundamentals of physics break down. This epoch is named the Planck epoch, named after Max Planck. Max Planck discovered the smallest units of length and time as well as others, and discovered the maximum possible temperature and density, as well as others. I go into detail about the Planck units in the post, The Planck Constant and Its Applications. The Universe up to 10^-43 seconds is the time when it was younger than the Planck time, a possibility not nearly explained by any modern theory. It is theorized that the electronuclear force now combines with gravity, at a soaring 14,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 K, or the Planck temperature. The theory that covers this is called (very appropriately) the Theory of Everything. This theory would unify gravitation and quantum physics into a theory that explains all phenomena that have and will occur in our Universe. The String Theory and Quantum Loop Gravity Theory have both attempted to explain this, but appear to have failed in encompassing everything. Hopefully, in the future, theories will shed light on this unknown epoch.

Therefore, extreme heat starts by boiling metal, and then breaking down particles, and finally by unifying all that there is in the Universe.

Cold and Special States of Matter

Although the journey to extreme heat spans many trillion trillion trillions of Kelvin, the journey to extreme cold only goes down a few hundred Kelvin to 0 K, or absolute zero, about -273.15 Celsius and -459.67 Fahrenheit. I will use the Kelvin scale, as it is the most convenient for representing low temperatures (to convert Celsius to Kelvin, simply add 273.15). As we go down in temperature, the movement of particles slows, eventually freezing gases, and creating substances that defy gravity and nearly stop light beams.

The calculation of absolute zero came about in a fairly simple way. Two temperatures were found, and the movement of particles was measured for each temperature. This was done using the boiling and freezing points of water. By plotting these two points on a graph, and then continuing the line until it reached the temperature where there was no movement at all, a very accurate approximation of absolute zero could be found. This, of course, is assuming the function of temperature to particle movement was linear, or a straight line. If it wasn't, more points would be calculated before the zero point could be found.

We will start at room temperature, which is about 293 Kelvin, traveling down on the temperature scale. On this journey, we soon encounter the melting point of the element Mercury, which is a liquid at room temperature. Mercury freezes into a solid at 234 K. As we get lower, we encounter the well known dry ice. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide and does not have a "melting point" because on contact with warm air, carbon dioxide sublimes (going directly from solid to gas, without any liquid middle stage). The gas resulting from subliming carbon dioxide is fog. In fact, the liquid form of carbon dioxide cannot occur unless under pressure. Therefore, the "subliming point" of carbon dioxide is 194.65 K.

As the temperatures continue to drop, the gases begin to liquefy. One example is oxygen, which at 90.20 K, becomes a blue liquid. One property of this liquid is its ability to make objects dipped in it very brittle. The classic example of this is dipping a bouncy ball into liquid oxygen and dropping it. The brittle properties of the ball causes it to shatter. Oxygen is supposedly one of the permanent gases, (the term was coined by Michael Faraday) or a gas that cannot be liquefied by pressure alone. These gases are oxygen, nitrogen, and Hydrogen (Helium would be a permanent gas but it wasn't discovered until later).

The second of the so called permanent gases to liquefy is nitrogen at 77 K. Nitrogen then solidifies at 63 K. The next gas is Hydrogen, which liquefies at a very low 20.28 Kelvin. This was the coldest liquefaction point of any gas before Helium was discovered. Hydrogen also becomes a solid at 14.2 K. Finally, the last gas to liquefy is Helium, at an astounding 4.22 Kelvin. Helium solidifies at an even lower temperature, and the solid from of Helium usually requires pressure to keep it stable.

Now, that all the gases are liquefied, various strange phenomena occur, the first of which is superconductivity. Many metals conduct electricity, but it has been discovered that at very low temperatures, metals suddenly have zero resistance to electrical current. Therefore, magnets have the effect of floating on the metal's magnetic field. Until 1986, all metals known had a superconductivity point of less than 30 K. Over recent years, however, metals have been discovered with higher superconductivity points. The first metal to have a point higher than 30 K was LaBaCuO (La=Lanthanum, Ba=Barium, Cu=Copper, O=Oxygen) at 35 K. The next discovery was the metal whose acronym is YBCO, which had a point of 90 K, discovered in 1987. Progress continued over the years, until today, when the highest temperature superconductor is thallium barium calcium copper oxide (Hg (12 atoms) Tl (3 atoms) Ba (30 atoms) Ca (30 atoms) Cu (45 atoms) O (125 atoms)). This remarkable substance has a superconductivity point of 138 K, and possibly up to 164 K under more extreme pressures. If more high temperature superconductors could be discovered, there would be a definite commercial use for superconductivity and electric wires could conduct electricity without any resistance, increasing the efficiency of transporting electricity over long distances. Currently, it is not known why metals reach this curious state at low temperatures or why the temperatures would vary from metal to metal.



A magnet levitating on the magnetic field produced by a superconductor. The superconductor itself is not visible but the wisps of gas are a result of the liquid nitrogen (the coolant to the superconductor) evaporating.

Another strange property of matter at extremely cold temperatures comes about when we reach 2.1768 K. Helium* (see footnote directly below this paragraph) at this point is a liquid, and it is a normal colorless liquid from 4.2 K down to 2.1768 K. Then, a strange thing happens. The liquid switches phases and turns blue. Also, its viscosity becomes zero. The viscosity of a liquid is, in common terms, the "thickness" of the liquid. For example, maple syrup, as you know, takes awhile to flow and clearly has high viscosity compared to water, which is "thin" and flows easily and quickly over a surface. However, even water encounters resistance and barriers, such as rocks or dams, can (temporarily) stop it. However, when a liquid has exactly zero viscosity, it is called a superfluid. The normal Helium 4 atom (which has two electrons, two protons, and two neutrons) becomes a superfluid at its "lambda point" or 2.1768 K, as mentioned above. The amazing properties of superfluid Helium allow it to, without friction, travel up surfaces and defy gravity. For example, if a empty container, devoid of superfluid Helium, was submerged into an area filled with the fluid, a thin film of Helium would travel up the walls of the container and fill it until the level equalizes. In fact, unless sealed, superfluid Helium would flow everywhere until it was heated above its Lambda point or until there was a film of superfluid Helium around the entire Earth! Also, below Helium's freezing point (not exactly calculated, but is probably 1.5 K for pressurized Helium and 0.95 K for regular Helium) Helium is conjectured to become a supersolid. A supersolid is identical to a superfluid, with the exception that a supersolid has solid-like properties that result in an orderly spacing of molecules. Therefore, the solid would be "flowing". Since superfluids move without friction, a superfluid fountain is a perpetual motion device. The fountain continues without any energy at all! The only problem is that superfluids exist at such low temperatures that there is no commercial use.

*The only substance that is capable of being a superfluid is Helium. This is because Helium is the only substance that is a liquid at this extremely low temperature. (Hydrogen freezes at 14.2 K)



A picture showing how superfluids can travel, as a thin film, up the walls of a container. Eventually, the levels will equalize. Also, notice that a thin film circumnavigates the entire structure. If the top was not sealed, the superfluid would creep out and escape.

In 1924, Satyendra Bose sent a paper to Albert Einstein on theories of matter at extremely low temperatures. Einstein applied his own calculations and together they discovered a peculiar property of matter at very low temperature called the Bose-Einstein condensate. The quantum properties of this state of matter are very technical, but it seems that the atoms themselves adopt wave-like properties and grow larger. As the temperature continues to drop, the waves become larger and larger, until they intersect with each other and become one single unit, moving (although very little because the temperature is so low) uniformly. The quantum physics of atoms and particles applies to the larger "atom" and allows events to be seen visibly that usually only occur on very small scales. However, nothing was physically learned about this state of matter until over seventy years later, in 1995, because the temperature needed to attain it was very low (below 0.000001 Kelvin). Before its discovery, it was thought that light atoms would be more useful in producing Bose-Einstein condensates, but the first sample synthesized was of a small sample of Rubidium at 170 nanokelvin (0.000000170 K). Later, another Bose-Einstein condensate was produced, this time with Sodium atoms. This condensate had about one hundred times more atoms, or about two hundred thousand atoms, and the results were very beneficial for seeing how Bose-Einstein condensates interact with each other. Also, the Bose-Einstein condensate has the interesting property of being able to slow down light to observable speeds. The Bose-Einstein condesate is also very fragile, and interaction with even one regular atom could turn the substance back into normal form.



A map of atomic velocities during the production of a Bose-Einstein Condensate. The colors represent how many atoms are moving at a certain velocity. For example, the color red represents that very few atoms are moving at the same velocity while the color white represented thousands of atoms moving at the same rate. The image on the left is just before formation of the condensate, and the atoms are moving to different directions at different speeds. The center and left images are progressions in the life of the Bose-Einstein condensate where the atoms are moving in unison, represented by the white peak.

The temperature at which a Bose-Einstein Condensation is achieved is still above the lowest attained temperature of 0.0000000001 Kelvin, and this is still above absolute zero. The colder you get, the harder the last bit of heat clings to the matter. What happens at absolute zero, and whether it is even attainable, is unknown and may never be known.