Phys.org reported on Monday that researchers have used laser-blasted plasma to recreate small flare-like events in the laboratory, offering a possible route to understanding how instabilities heat the sun's corona. The work was covered under the headline that the experiments show how such instabilities could drive coronal heating.
Several outlets described the results in similar terms. New Scientist framed the experiments as tiny "solar flares" built in the lab that may help explain the corona mystery, while ScienceAlert said scientists had simulated solar explosions and may have addressed one of the sun's longstanding puzzles. Nacionale reported that laboratory nanoflares could account for the corona's heat.
The coverage points to nanoflares — small, flare-like bursts — as the phenomenon the experiments are intended to model. According to the reports, the laboratory setup uses lasers to drive plasma into unstable states resembling those thought to occur on the sun.
