This past week in class we took a field trip to MIT, and took a tour of the plasma center. First we heard a lecture about plasma, what it is, and how MIT is using it. After the lecture, which informed us what a lot of scientist and MIT students are working on, we went across the street to their Alcator C-Mod lab where our tour guide spoke with us about what they are working on.
Below is a picture of their lab of computers where the scientist do a lot of their work with magnetically confined for the development of fusion energy.
Below is a picture of the bolt that keeps the whole thing together so that plasma doesnt leak out.
Below is part of their lab. We werent allowed to see the whole experiment in person because it wasnt safe but what we did see was really cool!
The lecture at the beginning explained to us how that heat up the plasma. They actually use something like a microwave to heat up the plasma but its so much hotter and they use the smallest drops ever at a time.
The students who taught us about the plasma were so informative and knowledge able. The obviously really knew what they were talking about and they did a great job explaining everything to us as well. All in all i thought it was extremely informative and such a fun field trip!