Electric current is everywhere, from powering homes to controlling the plasma that fuels fusion reactions to possibly giving rise to vast cosmic magnetic fields. Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 4, 2020
13
6184
Scientists have found a novel way to prevent pesky magnetic bubbles in plasma from interfering with fusion reactions—delivering a potential way to improve the performance of fusion energy devices. And it comes from managing ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 4, 2020
10
4350
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 known as tokamaks from operating ...
Plasma Physics
Jul 22, 2020
15
477
One way that scientists seek to bring to Earth the fusion process that powers the sun and stars is trapping hot, charged plasma gas within a twisting magnetic coil device shaped like a breakfast cruller. But the device, called ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 25, 2020
0
33
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 team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 3, 2020
0
135
Blobs can wreak havoc in plasma required for fusion reactions. This bubble-like turbulence swells up at the edge of fusion plasmas and drains heat from the edge, limiting the efficiency of fusion reactions in doughnut-shaped ...
Plasma Physics
May 27, 2020
0
153
The subject of the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics, chirped pulse amplification is a technique that increases the strength of laser pulses in many of today's highest-powered research lasers. As next-generation laser facilities ...
Plasma Physics
May 26, 2020
0
111
A key challenge to capturing and controlling fusion energy on Earth is maintaining the stability of plasma—the electrically charged gas that fuels fusion reactions—and keeping it millions of degrees hot to launch and ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 28, 2020
10
1547
A key issue for scientists seeking to bring the fusion that powers the sun and stars to Earth is forecasting the performance of the volatile plasma that fuels fusion reactions. Making such predictions calls for considerable ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 16, 2020
1
855
Using plasma to control microwaves for beaming direct energy toward a specific point is explored for their durability in high-energy electric fields and their reconfigurable structure. High power microwave beams, similar ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 7, 2020
1
133
