Scientists announced Tuesday that they have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it

😲

https://apnews.com/article/science-business-california-climate-and-environment-d6cb7b048ce916e04be809482fd9cbe6

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Sadly that report left an important detail out...

[quote][The hydrogen] was exposed to 2.05 megajoules of energy (...) and it resulted in 3.15 mega joules of energy being released. However, it was still a net loss, as it took 300 megajoules of energy to heat up the lasers.[/quote]

So this experiment took about 300 times more energy than it produces, like any experiment before, and it's still not a viable source of power. Maybe on a larger scale where they can keep the reaction going for much longer, it will be worth the initial input, but this wasn't nearly as big as a step towards infinite energy as the vast majority of media outlets made it appear.

https://nltimes.nl/2022/12/13/take-claims-nuclear-fusion-breakthroughs-grain-salt-dutch-expert-says