Overview of Magnetohydrodynamics Theory in Toroidal Plasma Confinement

The biggest challenges mankind ever faces are falling energy sources and food shortages. If controlled nuclear fusion were achieved with net energy yield, the energy source problem would be solved. If natural photosynthesis were reproduced, food shortage concern would be addressed. Though both nuclear fusion and photosynthesis are universal, the difficulties to achieve them are disproportionally great. Instead, those discoveries harmful to nature, though naturally unpopular, are invented relatively easily. This tendency reminds us of a bible verse (Genesis 3:19): "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread". This verse basically sketches the dependence of efforts (sweat) demanded for scientific discoveries on the usefulness (bread) of the discoveries to mankind (see Fig. 1). The more the discovery is relevant to mankind, the more the sweat is needed for that discovery. This may explain why controlled nuclear fusion is so difficult and its underlying plasma physics is so complicated.