
Earth's coldest spot identified: -93.2 Celsius, -135.8 Fahrenheit [video] - antimora
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25312652
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Crito
To be pedantic, the coldest place on earth is in a laboratory (I don't know
who actually has the record right now). In fact, the coldest known places in
the _universe_ are in these laboratories. The Boomerang Nebula is the coldest
non-laboratory place that we know of in the universe, at 1K.

This University of Nottingham video on laser cooling is pretty cool, and
accessible:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drnq_6ffTbo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drnq_6ffTbo)

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yitchelle
Here is the corresponding article for those who wants to read it.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-
environment-25287806](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25287806)

For contrast, the article mentioned the hottest measured place on earth was in
Iran at 70.7degC, and one of the craters on the moon was measured at -238degC.

~~~
throwaway_yy2Di
Note the article disclaims that these satellite measurements are surface
temperatures (the ground itself), where other instruments measure air
temperature. Wikipedia describes that Iran desert as a "large plateau covered
in dark lava" [0], so I imagine it's analogous to how hot asphalt roads get,
rather than the meteorological temperature.

edit: The wiki article references this paper [1]:

 _The satellite-based land surface temperature (LST) measures the radiation
emitted by the top of the land surface (i.e., radiometric LST) and can be
likened to skin temperature, or the temperature a person would feel if
touching the land surface. It measures directly where the highest temperatures
on Earth’s surface manifest, on the ground. By comparison, standard weather
station air temperature is measured 1.5 m above the ground level with sensors
protected from radiation and adequately ventilated. Because air is such a poor
heat conductor, the radiometric LST in midsummer can be 30°–50°C higher than
the air temperature. Imagine the searing heat of beach sand (i.e., LST) on a
hot summer day, when standing in shade or water is the only way to avoid
burning your feet, compared to the air temperature 1.5 m above the sand._

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasht-
e_Lut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasht-e_Lut)

[1]
[http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2011BAMS3067.1](http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2011BAMS3067.1)

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chime
Superconductivity has been observed with transition temperatures as high as
138 K (−135 °C) [1]. I doubt the Earth's surface is getting any colder or that
we'll discover much colder surface temperatures. We've gone from requiring 4K
for superconductivity to 138K in a century. Even if we don't find room-
temperature superconductors, going from 138K to 180K means it could be
possible to have superconductors in natural environment for short periods of
time. As the range is raised to 200K - 220K, we could have outdoors
superconductors in the far North.

If we don't have to cool them manually, is there a limit to how large we can
make them? Mini train-track sized maybe? Come to Alaska and ride the
levitating train! Someday...

1\. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-
temperature_superconductiv...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-
temperature_superconductivity)

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darkmighty
Or more like "Come install your supercomputers in our facility!"

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colechristensen
Neglecting lack of infrastructure, could viable economic gains be had by
putting fossil fuel or nuclear power plants in these super-cold areas
resulting from the increased efficiency due to larger temperature difference?

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evan_
For fossil fuels at least there would probably be a point of diminishing
returns, oil gets thicker as it gets colder so more energy would have to be
spent warming the fuel and lubrication.

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Hrodban
Awww, it's just audio, no video. _disappointed_

Interesting nonetheless.

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DigitalJack
from the article:

"But he said scientists do _routinely_ make _naked_ 100 degree below zero
dashes outside in the South Pole..."

emphasis mine. Gotta love science ;)

~~~
eru
It's the thing to do after Finnish sauna.

~~~
Sharlin
The 300 Fahrenheit club: from a 200 °F sauna to the -100 °F outdoors and back.

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sliverstorm
Damn. I was _sure_ they were going to say somewhere in Wyoming.

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enupten
I wonder what hapenned to pesky old CO_2 there :)

~~~
phaemon
It becomes "dry ice": CO2's melting point is -78C.

