In the vast clouds of rarefied gas that fill the space between stars, something is always churning. Supernova explosions, colliding streams — all of it shakes the plasma. And in this rippling, as it turns out, hides the mechanism that gives birth to magnetic fields.

The new simulation showed that it all starts with electrons. When plasma is continuously stirred, electrons develop a pressure difference along and across their motion — anisotropy. This triggers electron vortices — tiny magnetic loops. But that's just a warm-up. A bit later, ions join the game. They are 1836 times heavier than electrons, so they need more time to get going. But once their own anisotropy reaches the threshold, ion vortices are born — far more powerful. At the same time, the 'Biermann battery' also works: in swirling flows, electrons and ions shift differently, creating an electric current, and a current always means a magnetic field.

The result is staggering: the field is amplified tenfold compared to the case where plasma consists of particles of equal mass (as in electron-positron pairs). The shaking continues — the field grows until equilibrium is reached. This self-consistent mechanism explains why magnetic fields permeate even those corners of the Universe where no one expected to find them.