Scientists have made a breakthrough in their pursuit of nuclear fusion.
A milestone in fusion energy research was announced by the US Department of Energy.
Researchers created a fusion reaction that produced more energy than they put into it.
The experiment generated more energy than was put into creating it.
This is the first time that they have shown that this is possible. They knew from theory that it should happen, but they didn't see it in real life.
Nuclear fusion uses two atoms of hydrogen to create a heavier one.
The Department of Energy says the process releases a lot of energy. A fusion reactor is the opposite of a fission reactor.
Cosmic objects with fuel are provided by fusion in the sun and stars.
Since the 1950s, scientists have been trying to duplicate it on Earth in order to tap into what nuclear energy advocates say is clean, cheap, and almost unlimited electricity.
fusion produces four times more energy per kilogram than the fission used to power nuclear plants, and four million times more energy than burning oil or coal.
Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but fusion doesn't. The Department of Energy says fusion doesn't produce long-lived radioactive waste.
Nuclear fusion has not solved our energy problems in a big way.
Tuesday's announcement is a huge step forward, but applying the technology at commercial scale is likely years away.
The Department of Energy uses a rare and radioactive form of hydrogen called tritium.
It is possible that it will yield important information that will change the world. Prescod-Weinstein said they don't know. Being able to do this once a day with a laser doesn't mean that it will scale.
The announcement is likely to continue the trend of investors pouring billions into clean energy companies trying to make fusion commercially viable.
The original article was published by Business Insider.
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