The article Warmer than the sun: Researchers develop the hottest engine in the world first appeared in the online magazine BASIC thinking. With our newsletter UPDATE you can start the day well informed every morning.
Hotter than the sun – and smaller than a grain of dust: researchers at King’s College London have created the hottest engine in the world. The tiny single-particle motor defies the laws of thermodynamics and could help in the future to calculate complex processes such as the folding of proteins more efficiently.
Extreme conditions prevail inside the sun: its core reaches temperatures of around 15 million degrees Celsius, while its visible surface, the photosphere, is around 6,000 degrees Celsius. This enormous heat is caused by nuclear fusion, in which hydrogen fuses into helium and releases enormous amounts of energy.
Researchers from King’s College London has now managed to exceed these unimaginable temperatures in a laboratory – with the hottest engine in the world. However, this is not an engine in the traditional sense, such as in a car.
In science, by definition, these are simply motors that can convert a form of energy into mechanical energy. In this case, heat is converted into movement.
This is what the hottest engine in the world does
The researchers presented their work in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters published, hope that their discovery will provide a new basis for a more efficient method for calculating the folding of proteins. The world’s hottest engine is a microscopic particle that uses electric fields to levitate at low pressure.
To do this, the scientists let the particle float in an electrical trap, the so-called Paul trap. In this it is possible to increase the heat of the trapped particle exponentially. To do this, the researchers applied a noisy voltage to one of the electrodes to cause floating.
With their experiment, the researchers at King’s College London were able to raise temperatures so high on such a small scale for the first time. They found that their results partially contradicted the basic laws of thermodynamics.
“By exploring thermodynamics at this counterintuitive level, we can develop better engines and experiments in the future that challenge our understanding of nature,” explains lead author Molly Message, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Physics at King’s College London. “Engines and the modes of energy transfer that take place within them are a microcosm of the entire universe. The study of the steam engine led to thermodynamics, which in turn revealed some of the fundamental laws of physics.”
Continued research into engines in new areas therefore offers the potential to advance our understanding of the universe. This also included processes that drive the evolution of the universe.
Basis for protein research
In the future, the developed system could be used as an analog computer. This could be used, for example, to make predictions about how proteins fold and assemble.
This form of analog computing would allow direct, physical simulations of the system you want to model. By floating the particles in the Paul trap, forces that act on proteins during folding can be simulated.
Proteins are the engines that drive most of the important processes in our bodies,” explains co-author Dr. Jonathan Pritchett from King’s College London. “So understanding how they work and how they can malfunction is crucial to understanding diseases and treating them.”
The new approach could use less energy. It would therefore also be more sustainable compared to methods based on digital computers.
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As a Tech Industry expert, my thoughts on the development of the hottest engine in the world are both exciting and concerning. On one hand, the innovation and technological advancement required to create such a powerful engine are impressive and could potentially revolutionize the way we think about energy production.
However, on the other hand, the extreme heat generated by this engine raises serious safety and environmental concerns. The temperature being hotter than the sun itself is a staggering achievement, but it also brings about the question of how this level of heat can be controlled and harnessed effectively without causing harm to the environment or those working with the engine.
Additionally, the potential applications of such a powerful engine are vast, from aerospace to industrial uses, but careful consideration must be given to ensure that the benefits outweigh the risks. Overall, while the development of the hottest engine in the world is a remarkable feat of engineering, it is crucial that proper precautions and regulations are put in place to ensure its safe and responsible use.
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