A turbulent solution to a growing problem

A recent experiment lead by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), researchers on the DIII-D tokamak suggests that plasma turbulence can prevent filamentary structures called magnetic islands from growing so large that they cool off the 100 million degree plasma. This plasma needs to be as hot as possible so that individual nuclei collide with sufficient force to fuse together, thereby releasing energy. The magnetic fields of the DIII-D tokamak (Figure 1) confine the plasma while it is he