Latest Paul Bellan Stories

Researchers reproduce plasma loops to help understand solar physics In orbit around Earth is a wide range of satellites that we rely on for everything from television and radio feeds to GPS navigation. Although these spacecraft soar high above storms on Earth, they are still vulnerable to weather—only it's weather from the sun. Large solar flares—or plasma that erupts from the sun's surface—can cause widespread damage, both in space and on Earth, which is why researchers at the...

[ Watch the Video ] Researchers have discovered clues to help give scientists a better understanding of how plasma jets from the sun occur. The team from the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) used high-speed cameras to look at jets of plasma in the lab. During the experiments, they fired jets of hydrogen, nitrogen, and argon plasmas at speeds of about 6 to 30 miles per second across a distance of 8 inches in a vacuum....

PASADENA, Calif. -- Applied physicists at the California Institute of Technology have devised a plasma experiment that shows how huge long, thin jets of material shoot out from exotic astrophysical objects such as young stars, black holes, and galactic nuclei. Reporting in an upcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters, applied physics professor Paul Bellan, his graduate student Gunsu Yun, and postdoctoral scholar Setthivoine You describe how they create jets of plasma at will in an...