Researchers Night in Barcelona

Last Thursday, September 29th, DAALI partner Antonio Rubio, post-doc researcher from ICFO, participated in the European Researchers Night, by giving a talk to the public at large about ultra cold atom gases.

Entitled “Recepta per preparar el punt més fred de l’univers” (in English “A recipe for preparing the coolest spot in  the Universe”), Antonio talked about how lasers have become an essential technology in our day-to-day life, but also in many research laboratories.

During his talk, Antonio mentioned that among the many applications, people can use lasers to retrieve information, carve materials, or even in surgical operations. But, as counterintuitive as it may seem, there’s a lesser-known but widely used application: scientists use lasers to cool things down. Antonio explained how he and his colleagues at ICFO cool down clouds of gases of atoms at room temperature to the coldest temperatures known in the universe. He also described several applications based on these ultra-cold atoms, like atomic clocks and their potential to drastically improve various technologies, including GPS navigation systems.

European Researcher’s Night

The European Night of Research (web in Catalan) takes place every year on the last Friday of September in over 300 cities across 30 European countries. The event aims to connect the public with research, innovation, and the scientists behind them in an engaging and accessible way. Schools, families, children, young people, and adults of all ages can learn about and participate in the science happening in their communities through workshops, talks, shows, experiments, astronomical observations, and games.