New insights have been gained about stellar winds, streams of high-speed charged particles called plasma that blow through interstellar space. These winds, created by eruptions from stars or stellar explosions, carry with them strong magnetic fields which can interact with or effect other magnetic fields, such as those that surround planets like Earth. Our own sun produces such a stellar wind called the solar wind which blows plasma out into the solar system at speeds of millions of miles per hour. This solar wind is responsible for producing “space weather”—a major hazard for satellites and spacecraft as well as for electrical grids on Earth. To understand these processes, researchers are employing laboratory experiments to study magnetic flows up close. Scientists from two laboratories, funded by the Department of Energy, will be presenting their work at the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics meeting in Portland, Ore.