Nuclear Fusion Lab Achieves 'Ignition': What Does It Mean?

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December 15, 2022

Dear Reader, I'm filling in for Lee Billings today. The biggest news in physics this week is the announcement from the world's largest fusion experimentation facility that they have finally created a nuclear reaction that generates more energy than it consumes. Why this matters: A potentially clean and near-limitless source of power, fusion reactions are so energetically costly to initiate and harness that they were never considered a real contender for global energy supply. While decades of further development need to happen, this is a monumental first step toward making nuclear fusion power a reality. Read the full story below. And check out roundups of some of our best content of the year—from the top math stories, to all the ways artificial intelligence has changed our lives for good.

Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

Energy Nuclear Fusion Lab Achieves 'Ignition': What Does It Mean? Fusion researchers at the U.S. National Ignition Facility created a reaction that made more energy than they put in By Jeff Tollefson,Elizabeth Gibney,Nature magazine

Space Exploration NASA's Artemis I Mission Successfully Returns from the Moon After a 26-day journey that took it to lunar orbit and back, the uncrewed Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday afternoon, paving the way for future astronaut voyages to Earth's satellite By Nadia Drake

Mathematics 6 Marvelous Math Stories from 2022 Math made a splash this year. Here's a look at the fascinating discoveries, mind-bending quests and important events in mathematics in 2022 By Clara Moskowitz

Astronomy 9 Science Stories That Restore Our Faith in Humanity A river's "gut" revived, snake-saving social media, an intragalactic donut, and more success stories of the year By Sarah Lewin Frasier

Artificial Intelligence 10 Ways AI Was Used for Good This Year Artificial intelligence can improve health, protect biodiversity and even write wine reviews By Sophie Bushwick

Cosmology How Star Collisions Forge the Universe's Heaviest Elements Scientists have new evidence about how cosmic cataclysms forge gold, platinum and other heavy members of the periodic table By Sanjana Curtis

Cosmology Astronomers Grapple with JWST's Discovery of Early Galaxies Researchers are convinced the James Webb Space Telescope has glimpsed an unexpected population of galaxies in the early universe. Now they're trying to decide what this means for our understanding of the cosmos By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Astronomy Construction of World's Largest Radio Observatory Is Finally Under Way Two giant telescopes—one in Australia, the other in South Africa—will comprise the supersensitive Square Kilometer Array By Sarah Wild,Nature magazine

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 328, Issue 1

QUOTE OF THE DAY "There were a lot of people who didn't think it was possible, but I and others who kept the faith feel somewhat vindicated." Michael Campbell, former director of the fusion laboratory at the University of Rochester in New York

FROM THE ARCHIVE It's Time for Congress to Support Fusion Energy Fusion devices for clean, safe, and affordable electricity and industrial heat are making advances and need a push By U.S. Representative Don Beyer | June 2021

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