Puzzle Page #3: Plasma
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Today's Puzzle Answer: Plasma
Plasma is a state of matter different from solids, liquids, and gases. Plasma is created when a gas becomes so energized that it ionizes, meaning electrons separate from their atoms and move around independently. Because of this ionization, plasmas are electrically charged and generate their own electric and magnetic fields.
Though rare on Earth, plasma makes up over 99% of the observable matter in the universe, including every star and much of the material between them. On Earth, plasma can be found in fluorescent lights, torches used for metalworking, and lightning strikes.
Plasmas exhibit strange and complicated dynamics. Among these is an explosive process called magnetic reconnection, a rapid transfer of magnetic energy that powers solar flares, the northern and southern lights, and even accretion disks around black holes. NASA studies magnetic reconnection up close around Earth with the help of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission.
Learn more about magnetic reconnection.
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