Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory — Enabling a World Powered by Fusion Energy

Enabling a World Powered by Fusion Energy Enabling a World Powered by Fusion Energy

Thursday, September 2, 2010

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Making Things Brighter

Photo: Elle Starkman, PPPL

By Marco LaNave

The colors are brighter, and the images are sharper on the upgraded Visualization Wall, a high-resolution, rear-projection system at PPPL. That's just part of the recent work of PPPL computational scientist and software developer Eliot Feibush, who, within the past year, has had a hand in improving two visual-projection systems at PPPL and creating Princeton University’s largest-ever visualization display wall. "I tried to keep building off the lessons of each one," said Feibush, who has been part of PPPL’s Computational Plasma Physics Group and worked on the Lab's Visualization Wall since November 2001. read more >>

Plasma, and Convection, and Microgravity! Oh, My!

PPPL Science Education Team Takes Experiment Aboard NASA's Weightless Wonder

Using a plasma ball and a glitter lamp, a team from the DOE Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) studied convective flow in microgravity aboard NASA's Weightless Wonder in Houston August 3 and 4. "We collected data by filming a plasma ball and a 'glitter lamp' as the airplane performed a series of 68 parabolas over two days and the gravitational force varied between 0 and 1.8 g," says PPPL Science Education Program Head Andrew Zwicker. read more >>

Stellarator Man

From Tokamaks to Stellarators

Life's turns are as interesting and complex as the twists in a stellarator's magnetic loops. Just ask PPPL physicist David Gates, the new Stellarator Physics Leader at PPPL and a visiting professor this summer at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) in Japan. The longtime tokamak researcher has turned his eye from the toroidal symmetry of tokamaks to the curvy, complicated magnets — and the promise of steady-state operations — of stellarators.
read more >>

New Deputy Theory Head Gorelenkov Likes Making Predictions

Nikolai Gorelenkov is a theorist who appreciates the importance of experiments in advancing the fields of plasma physics and fusion energy research. Experiments validate theories, which is why Gorelenkov, the new Deputy Head of the Theory and Computation Department at PPPL, believes working with experimentalists should be a priority for theorists. read more >>

And the "Art of Science" Top Prize Goes To ...

A stunning image of a plasma plume won DOE Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) post-doctoral intern Jerry Ross the top prize at Princeton University's "Art of Science" competition. Ross received first place for "Xenon Plasma Accelerator," which depicts the exhaust plume from a Hall thruster, a plasma-based propulsion system for both near-earth and deep space travel. read the whole story and a story about the artist >>

Plasmas are Hot and Fusion is Cool

This photo of physics student Aliya Merali studying plasma — the fourth state of matter — at DOE Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is among those in the three-minute video, Plasmas are Hot and Fusion is Cool. The production shows images from fusion energy and plasma science research, and describes work conducted at PPPL.
(Photo by Peter Ginter)

Featured Podcast:
Plasma Camp: Where Teachers Learn about the Fourth State of Matter
By Marco LaNave

PPPL Collaborator Allen Boozer Receives the Best-known European Award in Plasma Physics — the 2010 Alfvén Prize

IN the NEWS

Four graduate students receive inaugural DOE fellowships
By Cass Cliatt
Princeton University
August 9, 2010

Approved! Council gives project green light to proceed
By Sabina Griffith
ITER newsline
July 30, 2010

Extraordinary ITER Council approves the Project baseline
By Sabina Griffith
ITER news release
July 28, 2010

Experts Fuss Over Cost Of Nuclear Fusion Research
By Geoffrey Brumfiel
NPR
July 27, 2010
audio: audio

Plasma Display
Letter to the Editor
By Richard Hazeltine, Miklos Porkolab, Stewart Prager, and Ronald Stambaugh
Scientific American
July 2010

Review of ITER's Upper Port Plugs
By Spencer Pitcher
ITER newsline
June 25, 2010

Local teacher selected for science internship
By staff writer
Holmdel Independent
June 17, 2010

Simmons Begins Term as 129th President of ASME
By Staff
ASME News
June 15, 2010

Seeking Art in Science
by Jennifer Pinkowski
Time Magazine
June 11, 2010

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451
Princeton, NJ 08543-0451

GPS: 100 Stellarator Road, Princeton, NJ, 08540

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Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, managed by Princeton
University and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy,
is a collaborative national center for plasma and fusion science.