330-PS-828 (NPC 6998):  Navy Research Approaches Absolute Zero.   Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., prepare for an experiment in low-temperature physics, searching for the answer to the age-old question of what happens to materials subjected to extreme cold.   Temperatures only six hundredths of a degree above absolute zero (459.6 degrees below zero o the Fahrenheit scale) have been reached with this apparatus and researchers in the laboratory’s cryomagnetics laboratory hope eventually to approach within a few thousandths of a degree of absolute zero.   Instead of compressors and cooling coils associated with refrigeration equipment, this apparatus uses large electrical generators and powerful electromagnets.  The million-watt electromagnet in the foreground is among the most powerful in the world; just to keep it cool requires 800 gallons of water a minute.  The ultralow temperatures are produced within a metal dewar (a flask similar to a vacuum bottle) which is placed inside the electromagnet.  Scientists say the new developments in low-temperature physics will facilitate studies of the molecular and atomic structure of matter.   All molecular and atomic action is virtually stopped at extremely low temperatures, permitting detailed measurement of the properties and interaction of molecules and study of nuclear problems.  The physicists shown working the apparatus are (left to right) P.D. Alers; P.G. Siebermann; and Mr. W. Henry.   Photograph released November 1, 1950.  (7/8/2015).
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