calling all physicist

[ChrisGreaves]

Physics has changed since I was a teenager.

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Sunday’s Toronto Star carried an article about Absolute Zero.
Absolute Zero, I was taught, is that point that is reached when all motion stops.
The Boolean question to be asked is “Has all motion stopped”. If the answer is “Yes”, then you have reached Absolute Zero.
So far so good.

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This article suggests that researchers are going to attempt to surpass Absolute Zero.
What can this mean?
I understand negative velocity (that means that the direction has changed), but I cannot for the life of me contemplate negative speed.
If you are in motion you are not AT Absolute Zero.
If you are NOT in motion you are AT Absolute Zero.
What other state could there possibly be?

I couldn't find "surpass" in the Original Article in the Washington Post

When I read about "surpassing absolute zero", even Amsterdam starts to look good (grin!)

[HansV]

As you surmise, surpassing absolute zero is - not surprisingly - nonsense.

Come to Leiden - for a while it was The coldest place on earth...

[kdock]

In perusing the Washington Post post, I noticed the lead scientist's name and recalled, from my many mostly fruitless years of studying German, the phrase "Geht zum Teufel" (Or "go to the devil").

Am I the only one who thinks this is a bit sinister? (Or left-handed?) Can it be that Herr Doktor Teufel is trifling with the very fabric of the Universe?!

Well, not likely. But I learned some stuff today.

[HansV]

"Teufel" is indeed the German word for "devil". It occurs as a family name in Germany and among immigrants of German origin, but it's not common. Similarly, "Duivel" is a rare family name in The Netherlands.