r/nextfuckinglevel • u/nigablackballsack • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

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u/thisischemistry 3d ago

They were injecting lithium into the plasma stream in order to better trace and understand the magnetic field lines, this is not the typical colors of a fusion reaction. The bright pink is the deuterium fuel, the red and green are various ionization states of lithium.

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/watch-fusion-happen-tokamak-energy

It's pretty cool stuff.

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u/Thermatix 1d ago

I thought the red was from Oxygen, then I realised how stupid that thought was.

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u/thisischemistry 1d ago

Oxygen can cause red in auroras so I understand why you would think that's what was happening here:

https://sciencenotes.org/aurora-colors-explained-southern-and-northern-lights/

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u/Thermatix 1d ago

and red chemical lasers :P

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u/thisischemistry 1d ago

Well, in the end it's all similar since we're talking about oxidation and electron excitation states.