A team of researchers in the US have used Machine Learning (ML) to rapidly control plasma that fuels fusion reactions, paving the way to help Earth get the clean fusion energy that lights the Sun and stars.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are using ML to create a model for rapid control of plasma — the state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei, or ions.
The Sun and most stars are giant balls of plasma that undergo constant fusion reactions. Here on Earth, scientists must heat and control the plasma to cause the particles to fuse and release their energy.