AT LAST, astrophysicists will be able to do something most scientists take
for granted—experiments. They may be able to generate magnetic fields as
intense as those in the hearts of galaxies, using only a laser and a thin
wire.
Astrophysics deals with the behaviour of weird objects such as white dwarfs,
collapsing stars and quasars, which have magnetic fields billions of times
stronger than Earth’s. But astrophysicists can’t test their theories about the
way matter in these fields behaves because the most powerful artificial magnetic
fields are at least a thousand times weaker.
That could now change, because Alexander…
