"We think that magnetic activity on or around the stellar surface creates the super-hot plasma, " Hamaguchi said.

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An eruption of hot plasma from the sun, called a coronal mass ejection, which could do damage to electricity grids over an entire continent, might fit the bill.

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Conventional plasma torches employ such hot plasma to cut metal.

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And the hot plasma can also heat up and expand the upper layers of the atmosphere, causing satellites in low orbits to encounter more air resistance and lose altitude.

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For instance, the ultra-thin layers of graphene (a two-dimensional form of graphite) are formed by injecting liquid solutions containing carbon and silicon into an extremely hot, ionised gas (plasma) of argon.

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This is a tiny bubble of plasma that might be made so hot that it could initiate certain sorts of fusion.

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The plasma lights are also hardy enough to withstand extreme hot and cold temperatures.

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