[jxf]

Adding that word is a very big change from the original title. Compare these other hypothetical titles:

> Wright Brothers Plane Won't Lead to Practical Flight

> Rocket Engines Won't Lead to Human Spaceflight

> Mold Spore Cultivation Won't Lead to Penicillin Breakthrough

and so on.

[dmix]

I agree with you but are we sure this ignition thing has proven we can use fusion for energy? Or was the key step towards it?

I’m guessing the Wright Brothers (and the equivalent of media/intellectuals at the time) didn’t know they had a sure thing early on either.

Usually these “tipping points” are defined in retrospect aren’t they?

[soulofmischief]

That's why the premise of this article is ridiculous.

[dmix]

Agreed. It's only a useful devils-advocate type position. Something journalists love doing to generate clicks.

[lisper]

> Or was the key step towards it?

Sure. But watching a bird fly is a key step towards making a 747 too.

The energy that came out of the fusion reaction was more than the energy in the laser beam that ignited it. But the energy that went into the laser was about 100 times more than the energy that came out, so we've gone from -99.5% efficiency to -98.5% or something like that. Is that a key step? I suppose. Is it major progress? Maybe. Does it get us substantially closer to practical fusion? No. Not by a long shot.

[chitowneats]

Yes. Exactly. So then why is the article trying to define them?

[mertd]

This is overly pedantic.

You just need to read past the first sentence. They immediately qualify their statement. In the same font size as the headline...

[jxf]

The headline is deliberately designed to be more controversial than the article body is... perhaps so that one might, say, bait you into clicking it? :)

[chitowneats]

If only there was term for this. Let me sleep on it, I'll get back to you.

[elihu]

It's not overly pedantic to expect headlines to not be the exact opposite of a true statement. Contradicting the first sentence with the second sentence doesn't make the first sentence any more true.

[themitigating]

Seems pretty easy to qualify their headline with one word