ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Magnetic pinch

So you know how sometimes you play with magnets and they stick together or push away from each other? Well, when you make a really strong magnetic field, it can actually pinch something in the middle.

It's kind of like when you squeeze a balloon really tight in the middle and it gets smaller there. But instead of your hands, it's the strong magnetic field that's doing the squeezing.

Scientists use this magnetic pinch to do lots of cool things, like making really hot and dense plasma (which is like a super-hot gas) that they study to learn more about how stars work. It's kind of like making a tiny sun right here on Earth!

Overall, magnetic pinch is when really strong magnets squeeze something in the middle and it's used to do cool science stuff.