Going with the flow

摘要

What has a giant vacuum flask of su-percold helium got to do with streamlining nuclear submarines and jet aircraft so they travel faster and use less fuel? And why are both astronomers and global warming experts so keen to keep an eye on what happens in that flask? Russell Donnelly, a low-temperature physicist at the University of Oregon in Eugene, knows why. His dream is that supercold helium will be able to overcome a major obstacle that is preventing engineers from carrying out realistic tests in the laboratory. It could also shed some light on turbulence, one of last unsolved problems of classical physics. The National Science Foundation has faith: it has just awarded him a $5 million grant to build a prototype helium flask and convince the world that he really can go where no engineer has gone before.