Nuclear and plasma physics together probe matter under extreme conditions, from the sub-atomic forces that bind protons and neutrons into nuclei, to the collective behaviour of fully ionised gases in ...

Electron beam generated plasmas constitute a refined method for producing ionised gases, achieved by directing a high-energy electron beam into a neutral gas. The non-equilibrium ionisation caused by ...

A crack of lightning, a burst of heat, and suddenly a glowing sphere hangs in the sky like a craft from another world.

Using the Super Proton Synchrotron, the team created beams of electron-positron pairs and passed them through a meter-long region of plasma. This setup served as a scaled laboratory version of a ...

Nuclear fusion, which operates on the same principle that powers the sun, is expected to become a sustainable energy source for the future. To achieve fusion power generation, it is essential to ...

Triggered by lightning in thunderstorms, whistler waves are radio waves that are channelled thousands of kilometres around the world via ducts in the magnetosphere. As Ian Randall reports, these ...

At the Columbia Plasma Physics Lab, researchers are tackling one of the most pressing challenges in creating clean energy: making nuclear fusion a viable power source. Unlike nuclear fission—the type ...

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright visited the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on Aug. 20 at a pivotal time for the race toward reliable fusion energy, which decisions ...