A Big Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion

Danae Polsin '13 at the University of Rochester laser lab. (SUNY Geneseo/Matt Burkhartt)

Danae Polsin '13 (SUNY Geneseo/Matt Burkhartt)

Among physicists, there is an old joke that fusion is 50 years away — and always will be. 

That timeline may have shortened, though, thanks to a recent experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where scientists for the first time ignited a nuclear fusion reaction that produced more energy than went into it. 

That breakthrough event ignited excitement in the world’s scientists as well. If humans can harness that power — the same power behind a universe of shining stars — then they may hold the key to clean, nearly limitless energy and arresting global climate change. 

Read the feature article in the Spring 2023 issue of the Genesee Scene.

Author

Robyn Rime
Senior Writer & Editor
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