The coolest LEGO® in the Universe

Scientists found a new use for the popular toy.

During an experiment, a world-leading team of ultra-low temperature physicists at Lancaster University cooled down the LEGO® at the lowest temperature possible. Surprisingly, the experiment reveals that this popular toy can be used in the development of quantum computing.

The outcomes are significant as scientists found clamping arrangement between the LEGO ® blocks that makes the LEGO ® structures to behave as an excellent thermal insulator at cryogenic temperatures.

For the experiment, scientists placed a LEGO ® figure and four LEGO ® blocks inside their record-breaking dilution refrigerator- the most effective refrigerator in the world, capable of reaching 1.6 millidegrees above absolute zero (minus 273.15 Centigrade), which is about 200,000 times colder than room temperature and 2,000 times colder than deep space.

Dr. Dmitry Zmeev, who led the research team, said, “This is very desirable for construction materials used for the design of future scientific equipment like dilution refrigerators.”

“The use of ABS plastic structures, such as LEGO ®, instead of the solid materials currently in use, means that any future thermal insulator could be produced at a significantly reduced cost.”

Scientists described their findings in journal Scientific Reports.

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