The –est Physics

Laser kicks molecules into fastest ever spin

ALL SPUN UP  Molecules hit with a laser have reached record spin speeds of 600 trillion revolutions per minute.

Creativity103/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By Andrew Grant

- More than 2 years ago

The powerful kick of a laser has spun molecules faster than they’ve ever been spun before: 10 trillion rotations per second, or 600 trillion RPM.