A device that can map tiny magnetic fields more precisely than existing techniques has been created from a quantum form of matter known as a Bose–Einstein condensate.

Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, made a Bose–Einstein condensate by chilling a gas of rubidium atoms, held in place by laser light, to close to absolute zero. By imaging its response to magnetic fields, they could measure and map low-frequency fields with much greater sensitivity than today's best magnetometers. The device could be used to study inert materials or the magnetic fields produced by living tissues.