A new nuclear breakthrough has brought the feat of creating nuclear fusion a step closer to reality. For the first time ever, researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have managed to generate more energy from a string of fusion reactions than was put into the nuclear fuel used within them.

The fusion process hasn't reached a stage where they can create more energy than the entire experiment just yet but it is still a huge step forward. The process is also pretty complicated. Even a small gain requires a painstaking process to achieve.

The researchers fired powerful lasers at a tiny amount of fuel coating the inside of a 2mm wide spherical capsule made of gold to replicate the conditions at the heart of the Sun. When the laser light enters the sphere, the gold begins to emit x-rays, heating the pellet dramatically and making it implode. The fuel coating partially fuses but no more than 17 kilojoules of energy is released.

If the researchers can achieve this in a big result manner, this might just solve the world's energy problems. Forever. [Guardian Image by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]