A United States fusion lab has made a record-shattering laser shot that focused a cluster of lasers on a single target. The new record high-powered laser shot is said to pave the way for an effort to create more sustainable fusion energy.

The National Iginition Facility was able to deliver more than 500 trillion watts of power during the historic test shot on July 5th. The laser shot was about 1,000 times more power than theentire United States uses at any given time. 192 different lasers fired within a few trillionths of a second of each other focused on a pea-sized target, similar to a capsule that can hold the deuterium and tritium fuel needed for achieving fusion. Fusion is the process that creates energy from the fusing of atoms.

The extreme laser power is necessary for the NIF to try an approach known as inertial confinement fusion. The combined laser power would make the fuel capsule’s outer layer explode outward and create an opposite reaction. According to Newton’s third law, this would compress the remaining fuel enough to trigger a fusion reaction.

In the quest for clean energy, high-powered lasers are paving the way for the future of technology.

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