Bottling the World’s Coldest Plasma to Unlock the Secrets of Fusion Power
Laser-cooled plasma-in-a-bottle could answer questions about the sun, fusion power. Rice University physicists have discovered a way to trap the world’s coldest plasma in a…
Plasma Physics
Science Made Simple: What Is a Tokamak?
A tokamak is a machine that confines a plasma using magnetic fields in a donut shape that scientists call a torus. Fusion energy scientists believe that tokamaks…
New Rocket Thruster Concept Exploits the Mechanism Behind Solar Flares
A new type of rocket thruster that could take humankind to Mars and beyond has been proposed by a physicist at the U.S. Department of…
Breakthrough in Stopping the Spread of COVID-19: Plasma Treatments Quickly Kill Coronavirus on Surfaces
Using cold atmospheric plasma promises a breakthrough in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Researchers from UCLA believe using plasma could promise a significant breakthrough in…
Exploring the Source of Stars and Planets in a Plasma Physics Laboratory
A new method for verifying a widely held but unproven theoretical explanation of the formation of stars and planets has been proposed by researchers at…
Realistic Simulation of Plasma Edge Instabilities in Tokamak Fusion Reactors
Computer simulation of ELM crashes at the lower plasma edge of ASDEX Upgrade fusion device. The video shows the evolution of the plasma pressure over…
Physicists, Chemists, and Biologists Working Together to Optimize Plant Growth and Yield Using Plasma Treatment
Researchers are fine-tuning the application of plasma to agriculture to speed up germination and help plants grow strong. Ever since scientists discovered that plasma treatment…
Physicists New Pulsed RF Control Method for Improving the Performance of Fusion Reactions
Scientists have found a novel way to prevent pesky magnetic bubbles in plasma from interfering with fusion reactions – delivering a potential way to improve…
While Birds Chirp, Plasma Shouldn’t: New Plasma Physics Insight Advances the Development of Fusion Energy
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have furthered understanding of a barrier that can prevent doughnut-shaped fusion facilities…
New Understanding of Collision-Less Plasma Shock Waves, Earth’s Interaction With the Solar Wind
As the Earth orbits the sun, it plows through a stream of fast-moving particles that can interfere with satellites and global positioning systems. Now, a…
Researchers Create and Stabilize Pure Polymeric Nitrogen Using Plasma for the First Time
Producing polymeric nitrogen at near-ambient conditions is a new trick for liquid plasma. Scientists have long theorized that the energy stored in the atomic bonds…
New Insights into the Nature of “Whistlers” and Space Plasmas
Unraveling the Nature of ‘Whistlers’ from Space in the Lab Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles present new research on a curious cosmic…
Physicists Identify the Basic Principle of Electric Wind in Plasma
A KAIST team identified the basic principle of electric wind in plasma. This finding will contribute to developing technology in various applications of plasma, including…
Laboratory-Based Astrophysics Leads to Dedicated Discipline
The gigantic orange magnets at MIT were originally built decades ago to confine hydrogen nuclei in the search for nuclear fusion. However, since 1998 plasma…