Laser Fusion Experiment Unleashes an Energetic Burst of Optimism

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/science/lasers-fusion-power-watts-earth.html

Source: By Kenneth Chang, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: Scientists have come tantalizingly close to reproducing the power of the sun — albeit only in a speck of hydrogen for a fraction of a second. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reported on Tuesday that by using 192 gigantic lasers to annihilate a pellet of hydrogen, they were able to ignite a burst of more than 10 quadrillion watts of fusion power — energy released when hydrogen atoms are fused into helium, the same process that occurs within stars. ...And all of the fusion energy emanated from a hot spot about as wide as a human hair, he said. ...But the burst — essentially a miniature hydrogen bomb — lasted only 100 trillionths of a second. Still, that spurred a burst of optimism for fusion scientists who have long hoped that fusion could someday provide a boundless, clean energy source for humanity.…

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