Molecules/Matter & Energy
Particles found surfing on hot plasma, plus spinning atoms and a new deep-Earth mineral in this week’s news
By Science News
Particles gone surfing
Physicists have caught electrons in the act of surfing — not on water, but on hot plasma. German scientists zapped the plasma with a high-intensity laser pulse, then watched as bunches of electrons scooted along a wake left in the plasma by moving electrical charges. The findings, reported online March 13 in
Nature Physics
, reveal the first time anyone has seen such electron surfing in real time. Future studies could lead to better ways of imaging quickly moving atoms and molecules, the scientists say. —