Research

In the Eye of the Plasma Storm

Researchers hope to use plasmas to make the production of hydrogen and steel more environmentally friendly. The key to this is a tornado that they generate in a lab. There is a storm brewing in the physics lab in Bochum, and talk of tornados and temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius. Yet this has nothing to do with the climate: The labs house all manner of metallic devices with small windows that show colorful lights. These glowing objects within the reactors – which conveniently fit on a table – are plasmas. And they can do just about anything: Plasma can be used to sterilize surgical instruments, brighten displays, or facilitate energy-intensive industrial processes.