The technology could be especially useful for slowing down single cells and allow scientists to study biological processes as they happen.

Your run-of-the-mill laser pointer exploits the atomic behavior of rubies to produce photons of red light which are precisely coordinated in both phase and frequency. This careful level of coordination gives off a high-energy beam that usually has the effect of heating up its target – sometimes dramatically so.

But when properly designed, lasers can also be used to cool down objects. The mechanism for a cooling laser was first demonstrated in 1995 in the vacuum. Now, two decades later, researchers Peter Pauzauskie and team have achieved the first cooling laser in liquids, using an infrared laser to cool water by 36° F (20° C) under normal conditions.