Low temperature physics dangerous?

[stuart1]

Could temperatures at a fraction of a kelvin be dangerous? We have only naturally observed temperatures of 1k

But in a lab they did 100pk

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Temperatures of less then 20°C of the whole body and temperatures of less then about 0°C below the skin are dangerous for the human body. Just prevent these things from happening. If you have a block of copper somewhere at less then 1K it will just collect frost on top and not much will happen. If you touch it you will get frostbite. That's it. No worries. The reason why temperatures lower than say 10K are not much more dangerous than temperatures around 10K is that most substances have already lost all their heat capacity at 10K. (Boiling helium is an exception, in that is has a significant enthalpy of vaporization at 4.2K)

 

[stuart1]

I wonder if low temperature experiments at a tiny fraction of a Kelvin could be dangerous.
Could a vacuum decay occur if you lower the temperature of a confined space sufficiently?

 

[sophiecentaur]

Air at low temperatures could turn liquid which would be a possible fire hazard with the highly concentrated Oxygen present.

 

[Drakkith]

I wonder if low temperature experiments at a tiny fraction of a Kelvin could be dangerous.
Could a vacuum decay occur if you lower the temperature of a confined space sufficiently?

We've gotten things REALLY REALLY cold already. The record is 100 picokelvins, 0.0000000001 k.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero#Very_low_temperatures

 

[sophiecentaur]

We've gotten things REALLY REALLY cold already. The record is 100 picokelvins, 0.0000000001 k.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero#Very_low_temperatures

That'll be because no one shut the door. Were you born in a field?

 

[AJ Bentley]

I wouldn't worry.
There's no way you can possibly come into contact with something less than a kelvin.

It wouldn't survive long enough for you to touch it.

 

[ZapperZ]

I wonder if low temperature experiments at a tiny fraction of a Kelvin could be dangerous.
Could a vacuum decay occur if you lower the temperature of a confined space sufficiently?

I am waiting for the OP to come back and produce the references to the physics of "vacuum decay". If not this is a "When did you stop beating your wife?" question, and this thread will be closed.

Zz.

 

[AJ Bentley]

I am waiting for the OP to come back and produce the references to the physics of "vacuum decay". If not this is a "When did you stop beating your wife?" question, and this thread will be closed.

Zz.

Oh!
I didn't realize...
The guy is worried about them crazy scientists messing with the universe?