In a first, physicists re-created the sun’s spiraling solar wind in a lab

Some of the sun’s fundamental physics have been re-created with plasma inside a vacuum chamber

Big Red Ball

SUN IN A BALL  This view shows the inside of the Big Red Ball, a 3-meter-wide aluminum sphere at the University of Wisconsin–Madison that can mimic properties of the sun. Carefully applied magnets and electric currents make the plasma spin and send out streams of charged particles, like the solar wind. 

Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison 

Physicists have created mini gusts of solar wind in the lab, with hopes that the charged particle streams can help to resolve some mysteries about our nearest star.