Hmmm, havent techies been using laser cooling for decades now?,
especially in creating bose einstein condensates.
I think that they might have re invented this wheel. It occurs when a longer wave length laser
excites a shorter wave length resonance.
the particle is triggered to emit more energy than it received.
it still doesnt violate any of the thermo laws.
Slowburn
A simpler to understand version of the second law of thermodynamics is "You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't get out of the game." @ Alzie If it is laser cooling it is a safe bet that the cooling was not consistent with previous experiences with laser cooling.
artmez
Is this bumping up against Heisenberg's uncertainty as the size approaches quantum scales? Or maybe it's an instrumentation issue like the faster than light neutrinos in Italy. These more than just good ideas, these are laws that constitute the recipe for a universe.
Philip Morgan
I have a fabric here that defies the laws of thermo dynamics too It's ordinary old ripstop nylon used in sails When its' hot it shrinks and gets as tight as a drum when it's cold it expands and goes all wrinkly Go figure!
Slowburn
@ Philip Morgan
That is not thermodynamics.
The gridiron pendulum keeps the weight at the same distance from the pivot point despite every piece getting longer with heat by balancing the the pieces that lift the weight when they expand against the pieces that lower the weight when they expand except the nylon's internal structure in out of balance so that the lifting effect is greater than the lowering force.
warren52nz
Perpetual motion machines are impossible by the First Law of Thermodynamics too. it says you can neither create nor destroy energy. A perpetual motion machine would have to create energy to overcome frictional losses (which might be low but still there).
Slowburn
@ warren52nz
It is conceptually possible to make a perpetual motion machine that does not create energy merely gathers the energy from around it in the reverse of entropy.
Stephen Hall
"In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics! " Homer simpson.
Kie
Not the first time that the laws appear to be broken, The Casimir effect also breaks those laws. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect#Repulsive_forces I await ever-lasting batteries!!