10 Terrifying Forces Scientists Recreated in the Lab

The mad scientist is a classic stereotype in cartoons and comic books. We’ve all watched a wild-haired character pour something into a beaker, only to have it blow up in their face. In reality, researchers follow strict safety guidelines during experiments. This makes controlled environments ideal for studying scaled-down versions and simulations of deadly phenomena. From tracking nuclear fallout to throwing earthquakes at life-size bridges, here are ten times scientists poked the proverbial beast with a stick.

Related: 10 Fascinating Early Experiments in Cryogenics

10 A Smallpox Attack

For centuries, smallpox ravaged the world. In 1980, the disease was officially declared eradicated, but the virus isn’t gone. Authorized samples still exist in high-security laboratories in Russia and the United States, prompting fears that the virus might escape—accidentally or otherwise—and cause a new outbreak.

Even the authorities feel that the threat didn’t die in 1980. The U.S. government approved a drug in 2018 to treat smallpox. A year later, Australian researchers ran a mathematical model to predict how smallpox would spread today if someone used it as a bioweapon. The results were terrifying.

“Exercise Mataika” simulated a worst-case scenario that starts in Fiji. The first few cases are misdiagnosed because clinicians are unfamiliar with smallpox and do not expect to encounter it. The model suggested that it would take nearly two weeks for the disease to be identified. By that time, approximately 200 people would be infected. The outbreak later exceeds 2,000 cases as Fiji’s health system becomes overwhelmed, with the exercise assuming a fatality rate of about 40 percent.

Just as vaccines start arriving, a larger smallpox outbreak takes place in another, more populous Asian country. This leads to a catastrophic pandemic that decimates the workforce and leaves the power grid, communications, food production, transportation, and other critical infrastructure in an extremely vulnerable state. Under the worst-case assumptions, containing the pandemic could take ten years and require more than one billion vaccine doses.^[1]

9 A Tiny Sun with Flares

Solar weather can destroy satellites, bring down the internet, and fry the power grid, among other technological disasters. This vulnerability means it’s critical to study solar activity and find ways to protect our electronics-dependent civilization. Although scientists observe the Sun with telescopes, satellites, and spacecraft, they cannot easily reproduce and manipulate solar conditions. So, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), created a tiny model of solar plasma in a bottle.

In 2023, this “star” was formed using microwave-heated sulfur plasma contained inside a 1-inch-wide (3-centimeter-wide) glass sphere. The plasma reached approximately 5,000°F (2,760°C). Incredibly, sound waves simulated a central gravity field roughly one thousand times more powerful than Earth’s gravity, allowing researchers to model the spherical plasma convection that occurs inside the Sun.

The Sun’s magnetic fields sometimes bundle into knots until they snap, releasing two worrying phenomena. Bursts of radiation occur—we call them solar flares. Alternatively, gigantic loops of solar material are flung into space. The latter, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), can trigger geomagnetic storms on Earth that can disrupt technology or even destroy critical infrastructure.

Much remains unknown about how and when these storms form. Although the small plasma ball did not recreate solar flares or CMEs, studying its plasma flows might eventually teach scientists more about the workings of our own Sun.^[2]

8 A Floating Ball of Lightning

Ball lightning is a mysterious phenomenon that has baffled witnesses and scientists for centuries. These electrifying orbs are usually small, float a short distance above the ground, and then disappear silently or with a bang. Reports also claim that they can hiss, smell sharply of ozone, and appear in a variety of colors. Ball lightning is also closely linked with normal lightning and thunderstorms.

Science is still a while off from explaining all these weird traits, but one experiment might help explain how ball lightning forms. In 2006, researchers at Tel Aviv University used a 600-watt microwave drill, a device developed from magnetron technology. The drill aimed a powerful microwave beam at an object made of silicon, glass, and other materials. As the drill pulled away, the beam dragged molten material from the object, creating a fiery streak that transformed into a floating fireball.

The speck was just over an inch across and lasted about ten milliseconds, but it resembled descriptions of natural ball lightning. The result lent some support to the theory that ordinary lightning can strike the ground and vaporize silica in the soil, forming a cloud of silicon nanoparticles. These particles might glow as they react with oxygen in the air, producing the bright light for which ball lightning is famous. However, researchers still needed to verify the fireball’s composition, and the experiment did not establish a definitive explanation for every reported case of ball lightning.^[3]

7 A Supernova Explosion

Supernovae are among the most powerful stellar explosions known to science. One major type occurs when a massive star collapses and then blows up. Supernovae leave behind remnants that often resemble cloud-like webs. One of these remnants, Cassiopeia A, is unusually irregular. It has twisted shapes and abnormal magnetic fields approximately one hundred times stronger than those in the surrounding interstellar medium.

Researchers suspected that Cassiopeia A’s progenitor star sloughed off clouds of material before it exploded. The debris from the actual explosion shot through these clouds, creating the uneven look. To test whether this theory explained the remnant’s appearance, astrophysicists created a scaled laboratory analog of the interaction between the supernova ejecta and uneven surrounding material.

The experiment sounds simple: Three laser beams heated a thin carbon rod inside a gas-filled chamber until it exploded. But the project was so complicated that twelve institutions contributed to make it happen. The lasers were incredibly powerful—around 60 trillion times stronger than a laser pointer—and heated the rod to millions of degrees.

When the resulting gases passed through a grid standing in for the material expelled before the supernova, the blast reproduced fluid and plasma behavior comparable to Cassiopeia A’s irregular turbulence. The magnetic field was also higher in tests with the grid than in those without it, suggesting that the violent collision between the two groups of material contributed to Cassiopeia A’s unusually strong magnetic fields.^[4]

6 Nuclear Fallout

Following a nuclear accident or attack, radioactive material called fallout enters the atmosphere before falling back to Earth. Given how dangerous fallout can be, researchers have made it a priority to understand this phenomenon. In 2026, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) simulated part of the process that creates fallout without detonating a traditional nuclear device or producing a nuclear reaction.

The scientists used a plasma-flow reactor to simulate one phase of a nuclear event: how selected materials vaporize and condense as they cool after exposure to the intense heat of a nuclear fireball. This information could prove valuable for emergency planning and nuclear forensics by helping researchers predict how fallout particles form and disperse.

LLNL focused on three specific elements: cesium, uranium, and cerium. Cerium served as a safer chemical substitute for plutonium. The trio were heated inside the plasma reactor to approximately 8,540°F (4,727°C), reproducing the high-temperature vaporization stage of a nuclear detonation.

The test used two different thermal histories: continuous cooling and delayed rapid cooling. In both cases, the uranium and cerium particles condensed quickly. Surprisingly, cesium behaved differently, condensing later and mixing more readily with other elements when it remained at a high temperature for longer.

This discovery not only bolstered our knowledge of fallout chemistry and behavior but also gave scientists information that could help them examine past nuclear events and follow their debris patterns like breadcrumbs, uncovering the conditions that created them in the first place.^[5]

5 A Black Hole’s Point of No Return

There’s a lot we don’t know about black holes, but one feature is frighteningly easy to understand. Black holes have a threshold called the event horizon. Once something crosses this line, whether a spaceship or light, escape is no longer possible. It can no longer return or communicate with the outside universe.

In 2022, physicists created a one-dimensional quantum analogue of this lethal border. The goal wasn’t to watch how quickly things could get sucked into oblivion. The experiment aimed to investigate Hawking radiation, a theoretical form of thermal radiation predicted to escape from black holes. Since this phenomenon is associated with event horizons, it made sense to build a safe analogue and see whether it produced a comparable effect.

The resulting “event horizon” consisted of a chain of atoms. Researchers adjusted how easily electrons could hop from one atom to another, creating a boundary with properties analogous to an event horizon. A temperature rise appeared only when part of the atomic chain extended beyond the simulated boundary, matching theoretical predictions for Hawking radiation under certain conditions.

The experiment did not prove that actual black holes emit Hawking radiation, but it produced a thermal effect resembling the predicted phenomenon. Curiously, the researchers suggested that this heat might arise from entanglement between particles on opposite sides of the simulated event horizon.^[6]

4 A Magnetic Field That Destroyed Its Own Generator

Most experiments in laboratory settings are safe. Researchers want to keep themselves, their equipment, and the world intact when they push the red button. But some experiments are designed to destroy the equipment involved. This was the case in 2018 at the University of Tokyo, where researchers attempted to generate the strongest controlled indoor magnetic field ever produced.

Nobody was hurt, and the university achieved its goal. The generator was expected to create a field about 700 teslas strong. For reference, a typical refrigerator magnet produces a field of approximately 0.01 tesla. Instead, electromagnetic flux compression generated a 1,200-tesla monster—around 50 million times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field.

The experimental generator destroyed itself explosively inside a specially reinforced enclosure, sending the chamber’s heavy doors flying open. This destruction wasn’t entirely unexpected. The technique deliberately crushes the apparatus to compress the magnetic field into a tiny space, sacrificing the generator to achieve its record-breaking strength.

The destruction aside, the experiment opened tantalizing possibilities. Magnetic fields above 1,000 teslas could help researchers discover unusual electronic states and study the properties of materials under extreme conditions. Such experiments might also contribute to research into confining plasma for fusion energy. However, practical fusion power remains a much larger challenge.^[7]

3 A Vacuum That Could Destroy the Universe

Imagine a lake located halfway up a mountain. It looks stable. But nature often follows the path of least resistance—or the lowest available energy state—and if the banks break, the water will cascade down to lower ground.

Scientists have proposed that our universe might occupy a similarly precarious position. The Higgs field may currently exist in a metastable state called a “false vacuum.” A lower-energy state, known as the “true vacuum,” might theoretically exist. If part of the universe transitioned into this state, a bubble could expand at nearly the speed of light, potentially altering fundamental constants and particle properties. The universe as we know it would become impossible.

To study the mathematical behavior of this concept without triggering an apocalypse, physicists at Tsinghua University created a physical simulation using Rydberg atoms. These unusually large atoms were produced by exciting ordinary atoms with lasers. The atoms were then arranged in an unstable ring representing a false vacuum.

Lasers broke the symmetry of the ring, allowing the atoms to transition toward a preferred lower-energy arrangement. This behavior matched theoretical predictions about how false-vacuum decay might unfold. However, the scientists created only a quantum analog—not a dangerous vacuum or miniature doomed universe. The result did not prove that a true vacuum exists or that the real cosmos could undergo this catastrophic transition. Still, it gave researchers a safe way to investigate the terrifying possibility.^[8]

2 A Real Bridge Experiencing Earthquakes

Many dangerous recreations are simulations on a miniature scale. This is safer since most real events would destroy a laboratory—or the world. But in 2014, the University of Nevada, Reno, pulled off an amazing feat. At its Earthquake Engineering Laboratory, researchers assembled a bridge measuring 70 feet (21 meters) long and weighing 52 tons (47 metric tons). Then, they unleashed simulated earthquakes beneath it.

The bridge components were designed and precast at the University of Washington before being transported to the 24,500-square-foot (2,276-square-meter) laboratory and assembled on top of three massive shake tables. These moving platforms reproduced ground motions similar to those recorded during the deadly magnitude-6.9 earthquake that struck Kobe, Japan, in 1995.

The bridge broke—but in a carefully controlled way. It twisted dramatically, reaching a deflection of 12 percent, and observers heard reinforcing steel shear inside the columns “like a zipper.” Despite the damage, the structure remained standing.

The fact that the bridge didn’t collapse during these extreme simulated earthquakes was considered a success. Its new design included rocking, pre-tensioned supports intended to absorb violent movement before helping the structure return toward its original position. The engineering technique could reduce property damage and save the lives of people caught on bridges during real disasters.^[9]

1 The Hottest Thing Ever

In Switzerland and France, a long circular track runs underground for 17 miles (27 kilometers). Called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), it accelerates and collides particles so researchers can study fundamental matter and forces. It’s famous for the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, sometimes nicknamed the “God particle.” Fewer people know that CERN achieved another major milestone two years earlier, when the collider created matter so scorching hot that the Sun looks like a bedside lamp in comparison.

In 2010, researchers smashed lead ions together at tremendous speeds. The collisions created tiny, extremely short-lived droplets of quark-gluon plasma reaching approximately five trillion kelvins. That’s roughly 9 trillion°F (5 trillion°C), making it the highest artificial temperature recognized by Guinness World Records.

The temperature was more than 300,000 times hotter than the Sun’s core, which reaches approximately 27 million°F (15 million°C). The quark-gluon plasma existed for only a fraction of a second, but its extraordinary heat briefly recreated conditions believed to have existed microseconds after the Big Bang.

The experiment happened in 2010, but it took two years to confirm the results through complex physics and mathematics. On August 13, 2012, Guinness World Records recognized CERN’s achievement. By recreating the conditions of the primordial universe, scientists hoped to learn how quarks and gluons behaved before cooling and combining into the matter that surrounds us today.^[10]