What is a Stellarator?

Описание: Curious about the twisty fusion energy device known as a stellarator? Alex LeViness, a sixth year graduate student in astrophysical sciences at Princeton University with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, explains how stellarators use external coils to generate a twisting magnetic field to control plasma, the electrically charged fourth state of matter, to harness the fusion process that powers the sun and stars and potentially generate clean electricity. #fusion #energy #stellarator #plasma

The stellarator concept was invented by Lyman Spitzer in 1951. Much of the early development of stellarators in the 1950s occurred at what is now PPPL, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Princeton University. The work was so difficult that the scientist in charge nicknamed it “Project Matterhorn.”

Today, PPPL continues to pioneer stellarator advancements. For the first time, scientists have built a stellarator using permanent magnets, the same type (though more powerful) as those that hold art to refrigerator doors. Learn more about how MUSE could offer a way to build future stellarators at less cost, making them viable options for fusion power plants: https://www.pppl.gov/news/2024/return....

🎬 Video credits: Filmed and edited by Michael Livingston, produced by Gwen McNamara

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