Scientists aboard China's Tiangong space station have set a new record for the coldest temperature ever measured, cooling a cloud of approximately 20,000 rubidium atoms to just 9.7 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero, roughly 280 billion times colder than the average temperature of the universe. Using the station's microgravity environment, researchers created a Bose-Einstein condensate, an unusual state of matter in which atoms behave collectively as a single quantum entity. They then used laser-based techniques to cool the atoms further, surpassing the previous record of 38 picokelvin set in 2021. The team observed the ultracold atomic cloud expanding freely for seven seconds, an achievement that could advance research in quantum physics and lead to more precise instruments for testing Einstein's theory of gravity, investigating unexplained physical phenomena, and detecting gravitational waves.