Figure 1 (IMAGE) American Physical Society Caption The plasma channel's electron density profile (blue) formed inside a sapphire tube (gray) with the combination of an electrical discharge and an 8 billionths of a second long laser pulse (red, orange, and yellow). This plasma channel was used to guide 40 quadrillionths of a second long "driver" laser, generating plasma waves and accelerating electrons to almost 8 billion electron volts in just 8 inches. Credit Gennadiy Bagdasarov/Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics; Anthony Gonsalves and Jean-Luc Vay/Berkeley Lab Usage Restrictions Gennadiy Bagdasarov/Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics; Anthony Gonsalves and Jean-Luc Vay/Berkeley Lab License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.