"It's so cold!"
It’s about to get a little chilly in here.
What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?
"It's actually so cold!"
(Screaming)
Well today,
we’re cranking that down a notch.
Today, you’re heading into
absolute zero territory.
So, besides sounding like
an awesome band name,
absolute zero
is the lowest possible temperature
in the Universe.
it, literally, can’t get any colder.
It’s so cold at absolute zero
that the very atoms have stopped moving.
That’s really cold.
Even the freezing vacuum of space is only
So absolute zero is colder
than the dark reaches of outer space.
And today,
you get to be our guinea pig,
and touch something
cooled down to absolute zero.
I know, right?
What an amazing opportunity.
Now, let’s say we froze
a small piece of metal
down to absolute zero temperature.
Would you mind picking that up for us?
As you pick up the piece of metal,
you'll find that it’s absorbing
all the heat from your hand.
Your hand is covered in moisture,
which is being robbed of all its heat,
and it begins to freeze once the temperature
drops below 0 °C (32 °F).
OK, you can let go of the metal now.
Oh, you can’t?
Well, that's because the water freezes
inside the tiny pores of your hand
and the surface irregularities of the object,
so you'll get stuck.
Think of it like when you
lick a flagpole in winter,
but A LOT more painful.
And if you try to remove the piece of metal,
the flesh of your hand
will rip off with it.
"Ahhhhh Kelly Clarkson!"
Just remember, you volunteered for this.
Next, blood vessels near your skin
will begin to constrict.
This will reduce the blood flow
to the affected areas,
and help keep your vital organs alive.
It's like your body puts up a roadblock.
The problem is,
this lack of blood supply
and oxygen to your skin
can cause damage to your cells.
At absolute zero,
the piece of metal will lower
your cells' temperature
until they are so cold
that the liquid inside them freezes.
This would create sharp ice crystals,
and damage the structure of your skin cells.
And brace yourself.
It gets worse.
You can expect even more damage
to the lower layer of your skin,
AKA the dermis.
Not to mention all the damage
to your hand’s muscles and tendons.
OK, maybe we should call it quits on this.
Well, because you were such a go-getter,
you decided to hold onto
the absolute zero metal
as long as you could,
and as a result,
you’ve got fourth-degree
cryogenic burns on your hand.
This will eventually lead to
gangrene
and extensive necrosis.
DO NOT Google that.
Trust me.
With your injuries,
there’s only one way to save you.
Amputation.
So besides maiming you,
what could we actually do
with absolute zero?
Well hopefully,
the study of absolute zero temperature
will lead to discoveries
in cryogenic research.
The field of cryonics
seeks to preserve whole human bodies
at ultra-low temperatures,
Yeah, that’s not as cold as absolute zero.
But if we can get a handle on how to work
with such a low temperature
we can use this knowledge
to prevent your body from crystalizing,
and your vital organs from being destroyed
after you're frozen.
Which makes us wonder,
what if we were able to nail
the cryogenic freezing process?
What if everyone on Earth
froze for 1,000 years?
Well, that’s a story for another WHAT IF.