A fusion experiment by US researchers have been able to release more energy than was supplied, a landmark achievement known as ignition or energy gain.
The fusion reaction was done using 192 giant lasers to heat up the insides of a centimetre-long gold cylinder to 3m degrees celcius, producing X-rays.
Inside the cylinder, the X-rays will cause the implosion of a fuel pellet containing deuterium and tritium, which will fuse into helium and produce an excess of energy.
The latest experiment used 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of laser energy to produce 3.15 MJ, almost a 50% increase. The reaction produces no greenhouse gasses nor radioactive waste.
The technology is far from ready as a viable source of energy, and will not solve the current climate crisis. But it does prove that the science behind fusion energy works.
