This is the New Mexico based Z Machine, the largest x-ray generator in the world that was designed and built to test materials in extreme conditions.
“The Z machine fires a very powerful electrical discharge (several tens of millions of amperes for less than 100 nanoseconds) into an array of thin, parallel tungsten wires called a liner (pictured here). The high electrical current vaporizes the wires, which are transformed into a cylindrical plasma curtain. Simultaneously, the current density induces a powerful magnetic field and their combination creates Lorentz forces which radially compress the plasma into a z-pinch process.”
Sounds intense. Read more on the official Z Machine website or on wikipedia.
posted by respondcreate on Jan. 03, 2011 in Pictures | tags: light, lightning, nuclear, sandia, science, trippy