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...

[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.

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