Physics
Oxygen Plasma Works Better When You Take Air Away
Tokyo Metropolitan University mapped atomic oxygen with a laser and found production happening in the dark zones near the electrodes — and several times more of it reaching the target.
Topic
Plasma
20 stories from Planck Standard. Latest: September 7, 2026.
ScienceThe World's Largest Solar Telescope Found Whirlpools on the Sun Just 12 Miles Wide — Like Spotting a Euro Coin From 110 Miles Away
The vortices had never been resolved before. Researchers think they twist magnetic field lines tight enough to power nanoflares and move magnetic energy through the Sun's atmosphere faster than models allow.
PhysicsThe Sun's Surface Is Covered in 12-Mile Whirlpools That No Telescope Could Resolve Until Now
The Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii imaged plasma vortices just 20 kilometers across, curling at the edges of granules like breaking ocean waves. They may be how the Sun twists its magnetic field.
ScienceGerman Researchers Destroy 'Forever Chemicals' With Collapsing Bubbles and Cold Plasma
One method squeezes water through a constriction until imploding vapor bubbles hit thousands of degrees. The other floats PFAS to the surface on gas bubbles and burns them apart in plasma.
PhysicsScientists Recreate Nuclear Fireball Conditions, Discover Surprising Fallout Formation Process
Lawrence Livermore researchers find that cooling pathways dramatically alter radioactive particle formation, especially for volatile elements like cesium.
- Physics
Scientists Simulate Nuclear Fireball and Discover Unexpected Fallout Formation Process
Lawrence Livermore researchers recreate intense chaos inside nuclear explosions, revealing how cooling rate dramatically changes radioactive particle formation.
- Physics
Scientists Create Nuclear Fireball Simulation and Discover Unexpected Fallout Formation
Lawrence Livermore researchers found that the cooling process dramatically changes radioactive particle formation, especially for volatile elements like cesium.
PhysicsLaser Creates Star-Like Plasma in Trillionths of a Second, Unlocking Extreme Physics
Scientists capture split-second ionization process as copper wire transforms into million-degree plasma, advancing laser fusion diagnostics.
- Physics
Scientists Turn Metal Into Star-Like Plasma Using Laser in Trillionths of a Second
Researchers capture split-second chaos as copper atoms lose and regain electrons, creating highly charged ions in extreme conditions.
- Physics
Scientists Create Star-Like Plasma by Blasting Metal With Laser in Trillionths of a Second
Researchers capture the split-second chaos that unfolds when powerful laser flashes transform matter into superheated plasma, tracking electron behavior in unprecedented detail.
- Physics
Scientists Achieve Laser-Generated Star Plasma in Metal Within Trillionths of a Second
Breakthrough research captures copper atoms forming and dissolving highly charged ions in unprecedented detail, advancing laser fusion diagnostics.
- Physics
Laser Creates Star-Like Plasma in Metal Within Trillionths of a Second
Scientists capture unprecedented view of copper atoms losing and regaining electrons during extreme ionization process using cutting-edge laser technology.
PhysicsRevolutionary Camera Captures Trillionth-of-a-Second Events in Single Shot
Scientists have developed breakthrough imaging that reveals both brightness and structural changes in ultrafast phenomena, turning fleeting events into detailed 'movies' of plasma formation and electron movement.
PhysicsChina's 'Artificial Sun' Shatters Fusion's Greenwald Density Limit, Opens Path to Ignition
Scientists using China's EAST tokamak achieved stable plasma at 1.65 times the density barrier that fusion researchers had treated as a hard ceiling for four decades.
- Physics
China's 'Artificial Sun' Shatters a Fusion Limit Scientists Thought Was Unbreakable
The EAST tokamak achieved stable plasma at densities beyond the long-standing Greenwald limit, validating a new theory of plasma-wall self-organization and opening new routes to fusion ignition.
- Physics
Physicists Solve Fusion Mystery: Plasma Rotation Drives Tokamak Particle Imbalance
Breakthrough discovery explains why escaping plasma particles hit one side of fusion exhaust systems harder than the other, crucial for reactor design.
PhysicsPrinceton Physicists Crack Decades-Old Fusion Mystery: Plasma Rotation Was the Missing Key
PPPL researchers found that the rotating core of tokamak plasma drives particle flows that previous models ignored, finally explaining why fusion exhaust slams one side of the reactor far harder than the other.
- Physics
Physicists Solve Tokamak Mystery Using Plasma Rotation in Fusion Breakthrough
Discovery explains why particles hit fusion reactor walls unevenly, advancing practical reactor design by combining rotation with drift effects.
PhysicsAstronomers Solve 50-Year Mystery of Crab Pulsar's Strange 'Zebra Stripes'
New research reveals that a cosmic tug-of-war between gravity and plasma creates interference patterns that form the striking radio wave stripes.
PhysicsChina's 'Artificial Sun' Shatters Fundamental Plasma Barrier, Opening Path to Fusion Power
Scientists at China's EAST tokamak achieved stable plasma at 1.65 times above the Greenwald density limit — a ceiling considered impassable for decades — using a technique that could scale to future commercial fusion reactors.
