Tracked topic
… Plasma physicists don’t measure the temperature using a thermometer, but instead study the energy of the particles inside the plasma using a metric known as the kiloelectron volt, or kEV. …
… Rather than force plasma into a human-designed ring, stellarators twist and bulge to accommodate the plasma’s quirks. The result should be a plasma that remains stable for longer, increasing the chances of fusion reactions. …
… Stellarators are capable of keeping plasma in very stable configurations, but to do so, they have to twist and bend to accommodate the plasma. That’s in contrast to tokamaks, another leading magnetic design, which uses more brute force to keep plasma confined. …
… When fusion occurs in the plasma inside the reactor, it expands, pushing against the magnetic fields. …