Nuclear Fusion: Inside the breakthrough that could change our world | 60 Minutes

My Grandpa Worked on the Lasers in the Livermore Labs for 30 years, he retired 10 years ago and died 3 years ago. If he was still here he would have been elated to see everything him and his team's work did to help get us to the first step to a great future for humanity.

Not to overstate the significance of this achievement since there are many substantial hurdles to overcome before this is anywhere near viable for commercial power production, but I still feel like I’m seeing a glimpse into the earliest stages of a technology that will one day change the world. Being in my mid 30s currently I’m hopeful it will happen in my lifetime.

My UCLA Physics class took a field trip here 25 years ago. They were working on this project even back then. I don't remember much about college but I remember that trip and the lab - what an amazing treat for our class.

“The power of the sun. In the palm of my hand.” -Otto Octavius

"The power of the sun in the palm of my hand" - Otto Octavius, 2004

Gotta say, I'm surprised this was actually a pretty good segment. Most every news segment I saw about this experiment covered it with such blind fervor, almost no one pointed out its shortcomings

I never forgot when my high school AP Physics class booked us a field trip to go see an experimental fusion reactor back in '98. Way better than the continuous trips to Disneyland you usually got in Southern California at the time.

Fusion within a decade has been the goal for 60 years.

Our special needs daughter, who had a nickname of Star Girl, died on December 5th… The day they brought star power to earth… I know, it only means something to me, but thought I’d share anyway

It’s hard to explain what a game changer the abundance of cheap, clean energy will be. Congratulations to everyone who dedicated their careers to working on this

Every day I feel like we're more and more living in a sci-fi movie.

6:36 That line, as well as the little exhale that someone has before bursting into laughter is precious. No one has ever said that sentence in that tone before I bet.

Years ago, I took a course on energy engineering as part of my degree. There was only a brief chapter on fusion energy, and how unlikely it was. I never thought they'd actually make this breakthrough in my lifetime. Amazing. Edit: FFS, people. Enough with the needless nitpicking and bickering. Of course I know this is far from viable. The fact they've actually made progress and reached this point is what's impressive. That's the entire point of this video. Seriously, I didn't think I needed to explain something that obvious. I swear, it's like some people are just waiting to type some variation of, "well, actually" at any opportunity and waste time arguing over nothing.

“From a machine, a star is born” is so deep.

He got bars!! “….meet the team that brought star power down to earth.”🔥🔥

I understand that the goal of fusion energy is always 40 years away. I am also elated to learn the breakthrough.

Shout out to Dr. Octavius. What you had achieved way back in 2004, the world seems to be catching up now.. Your legacy and contribution to Science will always be remembered. May your soul rest in peace.. and may you come back again in Spider-man 4

"It's not a science problem anymore - it's an engineering problem" - Accurate description. Science is painful, takes unseen amount of effort... But engineering can be exponential.

One thing on the efficiency of the lasers. They were originally designed for multiple fields of experiments, namely weapons development. And they're something like 30 years old on top of that. It's all a matter of money to develop and pay for modern equipment, but now we've demonstrated there's a reason to fund it

So in the final month of 2022 we achieved fusion! Wow sounds like beginning credits of a Star Trek movie where they indicate the first breakthrough that led to the warp engine. In this case the fusion engine. Nice!