World’s Most Sensitive Thermometer

How sensitive do you think the thermometer that you use each time you feel a fever coming on is? Just in case you think that you have the most sensitive thermometer ever in the neighborhood, I would advise you against getting too cocky. A breakthrough revelation points to a truly one-of-a-kind thermometer that has been specially developed to be a whole lot more sensitive compared to other thermometers out there. Known as the nano-Kelvin thermometer, it is capable of measuring temperature differences to 30 billionths of a degree, now how about that?

Dubbed to be the world’s most sensitive thermometer, this unique scientific measurement tool was specially developed by researchers from the University of Adelaide. In fact, the groundbreaking research work has churned out a thermometer that is three times better compared to the previous record holder. According to experimental physicist Professor Andre Luiten, this thermometer is not only precise, but it is also capable of selectively measure temperature change.

A new technique was developed that allows red and green light to circulate thousands of times around the sides of a disc-shaped crystal, where this circulating light functions as a whispering gallery. Depending on the disc’s temperature, that would affect the speed of the light in the crystal. This then enables researchers to figure out the exact temperature changes within the disc up to 30 billionths of a degree through the measurement of the relative difference between the speed of red and green light.

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: Science, thermometer