Just call 1-800-Tolkien.
Two slinky elves in shimmering gowns, “we’re waiting, giggle.”
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Supposedly, as per WaPo and Financial Times (paywalled), Biden is going to announce a breakthrough on fusion on Tuesday.
So, energy crisis sorted by end of the week, and with cheaper power, the Koch’s, Putin, oil companies and Saudis are all poorer and less powerful by Christmas. I may be getting ahead of myself a bit.
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“The Department of Energy plans to announce Tuesday that scientists have been able for the first time to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain — a major milestone in the decades-long, multibillion dollar quest to develop a technology that provides unlimited, cheap, clean power.“
The question is - greater energy than was used to set up and power the entire facility or just the energy put into the couple of micro seconds the reaction was able to be maintained?
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If the former, then practical fusion power might only be 20 years away.
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You card, you!
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It looks like they just output greater energy (2.5 megajoules) than needed to fire the lasers (2.1 megajoules).
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So - back to not in my lifetime again.
How am I going to fire up the warp drive without my fusion reactors to initiate the process?
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So the question is: can this be scaled up in a way that still produces enough power to offset the increase in energy lost through inefficiencies arising as a result of upscaling?
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I work at a bar, that’s a good question for a nuclear physicist though 
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Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman…what did they have in common? They all worked at a bar at some point in their lives.
Probably. Don’t quote me on that.
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In that case, the answer to your question is 42.
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Ah - you’re a cold fusion expert!
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And that’s just one of my jobs
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Oh, don’t get me wrong. Today has been a good day; I have seen the triple chutes of a moon return, an omen not seen in many decades.
Hitting better than break-even is great, but that’s like building a (briefly) sustained fission reaction in a squash court. There will be a lot of work and surprises along the way to practical power.
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You wouldn’t want to anyway. All the dilithium is on indigenous lands…
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Spore drive it is!
At least the mushrooms can make you feel like you’re traveling the galaxy.
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