This slows down the movement, and hence the temperature, of its atoms to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero.

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Dr Cornell and Dr Wieman had to plumb the icy depths of 20 billionths of a degree above absolute zero in order to win their prize.

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These atoms are cooled to a temperature of only a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature, at which all motion stops.

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The magnetic traps employed to hold the antihydrogen are only strong enough to confine it if it is colder than around half a degree above absolute zero.

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