Inside the World’s Hottest Experiment: Record Temperatures Explained
The highest temperature ever recorded wasn't from a nuclear blast or the sun’s core. Interestingly, the hottest day on Earth took place in Death Valley, where the temperature soared to around 56.7°C. To put things in perspective, the sun's surface reaches about 5,500°C, while its core is an unimaginable 15 million°C. You might assume that nothing on Earth could surpass the sun's heat, but that's not the case. In 2012, scientists achieved a mind-boggling record when they smashed lead ions together at nearly the speed of light using the Large Hadron Collider. This experiment resulted in a brief, astonishing spike in temperature—around 9.9 trillion degrees Fahrenheit, if you can believe it. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to set a new world record right here on Earth.