For centuries, humans have dreamed of harnessing the power of the sun to energize our lives here on Earth. But we want to go beyond collecting solar energy, and one day generate our own from a mini-sun. If we're able to solve ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 30, 2016
5
64
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN usually collides protons together. It is these proton–proton collisions that led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. But the world's biggest accelerator was also designed ...
General Physics
Dec 18, 2020
0
435
Neutron stars and black holes may be stellar corpses, but they are among the most active celestial objects. They produce some of the highest-energy radiation ever observed, and scientists have long puzzled over the physics ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 6, 2023
0
515
Humans may never be able to tame the sun, but hydrogen plasma—making up most of the sun's interior—can be confined in a magnetic field as part of fusion power generation: with a caveat.
Plasma Physics
Jul 27, 2023
0
300
Plasma is matter that is so hot that the electrons are separated from atoms. The electrons float freely and the atoms become ions. This creates an ionized gas—plasma—that makes up nearly all of the visible universe. Recent ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 17, 2023
2
115
Researchers from HSE University have developed a mathematical model that explains the levitation of charged dust particles over the sunlit lunar surface for almost any latitude. For the first time, the model takes into account ...
Astronomy
Feb 24, 2022
0
165
Twenty-five feet below ground, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory scientist Spencer Gessner opens a large metal picnic basket. This is not your typical picnic basket filled with cheese, bread and fruit—it contains screws, ...
General Physics
Dec 1, 2023
0
54
To create the conditions needed for fusion reactions, tokamak reactors contain a plasma in magnetic fields. These magnetic fields can contain tubular areas called magnetic islands. Plasma particles move extra quickly across ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 12, 2022
0
98
Our world consists mainly of particles built up of three quarks bound by gluons. The process of the sticking together of quarks, called hadronisation, is still poorly understood. Physicists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics ...
General Physics
Mar 1, 2018
22
252
When a dense sheet of electrons is accelerated to almost the speed of light, it acts as a reflective surface. Such a 'plasma mirror' can be used to manipulate light. Now an international team of physicists from the Max Planck ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 5, 2018
0
67
