Plasma

Seeking to improve the tokamak fusion reactor known as ITER, researchers have found a way to stop rogue tungsten atoms from shearing off the walls and messing with the plasma. The finding is another important milestone on fusion's road to success.

The most abundant metal known to man is iron. It's everywhere. Not just on Earth, but in space as well. Astro engineers have just figured out how to use iron – or nearly any metal for that matter – as plasma rocket fuel.

Vantablack, which is the world's darkest material, could be in for some competition. Canadian scientists have created a super-black substance that has the potential to be cheaper, hardier and easier to manufacture … and it's made out of wood.

Supermassive black holes have been known to belch gigantic beams of plasma into space – and now scientists have managed to recreate these fireballs in a lab at CERN.

NASA and Howe Industries are working on a new rocket to make the trip to Mars much more manageable. The Pulsed Plasma Rocket could boast 100,000 N of thrust, unlocking speeds of up to half a million mph to cut months off a return trip to the Red Planet.

A new type of dressing is shaping up as a way to heal chronic wounds without the need for antibiotics. Using a helium plasma jet to activate hydrogel, researchers have created a highly effective antibacterial cover that can swiftly overpower wounds.

Researchers have devised an economical way of reducing the environmental impact of both the steel and aluminum industries by using hydrogen to melt down the toxic red mud left over from aluminum production to produce green steel in around 10 minutes.

Researchers have used plasma technology to transform blue-green microalgae into a novel coating that can be applied to dressings and medical devices to protect patients from infection, speed up healing and reduce inflammation.

A team of scientists led by University of Virginia professor Patrick Hopkins is developing a plasma "freeze ray" that will be less interesting to super villains than to engineers looking for ways to cool electronics in the vacuum of space.

Solar wind – charged particles from the Sun – pervades our solar system, but the exact mechanism behind it remains murky. Now ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has observed previously unknown tiny flares on the Sun’s surface spewing plasma into space.

A world-first clinical trial has found blood or plasma donations can reduce levels of toxic PFAS chemicals by up to 30 percent. The trial is the first to find an effective intervention that reduces blood levels of substances known as “forever chemicals”.

Scientists have discovered a new form of space weather – superfast electron rains that precipitate into the atmosphere from the radiation belts. The rains could affect satellites, spacecraft and astronauts, but aren’t accounted for in current models.