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Did someone say plasma airplane wings? How cool is that...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/space/plasma-air-control/
We just watched moving air being controlled by plasma, the lesser-known, fourth state of matter which also exists in the blistering core of our sun. And while such lab demonstrations are both uncanny and awe-inspiring, these so-called plasma actuators could produce far more impressive benefits in the real world, especially for the aviation and wind power industries, and maybe even the trucking business.
On airplane wings, for example, tiny plasma actuators could help planes fly more safely, more efficiently, and with greater stability and control. They can speed, slow or divert air flows in ways that can cut drag, fuel use, and CO2 emissions by as much as 25%, researchers estimate. Some experts even think that these devices might someday replace conventional flight control surfaces such as flaps and ailerons. Imagine witnessing the ghoulish purple glow of the lab demo from the window seat of a transcontinental flight.
(Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Sunday August 28 2016, @02:39AM
Most fires that people have had common acquaintance since prehistoric times are not hot enough to have actual plasma.
http://www.plasmacoalition.org/plasma_writeups/flame.pdf [plasmacoalition.org]
A flame from something like an acetylene welding torch, at 3300°C, is hot enough to produce significant quantities of plasma, but more typical fires like those from candles, gas burners, and fireplaces have less than half that temperature and are not hot enough to produce significant quantities of ionised gas, let alone enough that the electromagnetic properties of a real plasma can be demonstrated. The only really common places where plasma could be observed before electricity was developed would have been from lightning bolts and phenomena like St. Elmo's Fire.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.