A Plasma Donut | Hackaday

We know [The Action Lab] all the time has one thing hands-on. This time, the video exhibits a toroidal plasma demo and the way it pertains to nuclear fusion. Plasma has a excessive temperature, and when you use bodily electrodes to excite the plasma, this excessive temperature tends to destroy the electrodes. But due to the connection between electrical energy and magnetism, you may create plasma with an alternating magnetic subject as a substitute of bodily electrodes.

The precise sensible system is a ten MHz supply with a coil and a low-pressure globe stuffed with xenon gasoline. It appears fairly cool. Of course, the little tabletop demo isn’t robust sufficient to drive a fusion response. But when you scale it up and make some modifications, together with utilizing hydrogen, you get a tokamak reactor.

The downside, in fact, is that present reactors want extra power to function than they produce. But we maintain listening to that nuclear fusion is right around the corner. One day, that’ll in all probability be true.

Of course, you may construct your own fusion device. Just don’t count on to generate internet energy.