Physicists at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have found a way to prevent plasma—the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei—from causing short circuits in machines such as spacecraft thrusters, radar amplifiers, and particle accelerators. In findings published online in the Journal of Applied Physics, Charles Swanson and Igor Kaganovich report that applying microscopic structures that resemble feathers and whiskers to the surfaces inside these machines keeps them operating at peak performance.