This should enable exotic new states of matter and enable better
quantum computers. Nature - Orbital excitation blockade and
algorithmic cooling in quantum gases 1. the researchers cooled
atoms of rubidium with lasers. When set up properly, these beams
can force atoms to glow in a way that makes them emit more
energy than they absorb, thus making them colder. When the atoms
gave off light as a result of being hit with the laser, this
exerted a slight pressure on them. The scientists took advantage
of that pressure to control the atoms, either keeping them in
place or moving them around, sometimes creating collisions. 2.
The researchers then made the atoms even colder with evaporative
cooling, in which matter gets cooled in much the same way as a
cup of coffee loses its warmth — the hottest atoms are allowed
to evaporate, leaving behind the colder ones. 3. the researchers
used webs of lasers known as "optical lattices." When two atoms
are made to collide within the optical lattice, the excitations
of one suppr