Number 174 (Story #3), April 15, 1994 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein ULTRAHIGH ACCELERATION OF ELECTRONS has been achieved with plasma waves in an experiment at UCLA. Although carried out only on a small scale---electrons accelerated to 30- MeV energies in the space of 6 mm---this approach may eventually be useful in building high- energy particle accelerators in a fraction of the space now required. At UCLA, two laser beams at two slightly different frequencies interfere to form a "beat wave" which moves through a column of hydrogen plasma. The electric field of this wave accelerates electrons (injected colinearly with the laser beams) to high speeds. The acceleration rate achieved, 2.8 GeV/m, is more than 30 times higher than is possible with conventional technology. (M. Everett et al., Nature, 7 April 1994.)