[lisper]

> This is newsworthy despite "They didn't get more fusion power out than they put in with the laser"?

It's not newsworthy, but most reporters are not educated enough to tell the difference between a real breakthrough and a bogus press release.

[hotpockets]

It is newsworthy. We generated fusion be shining light at molecules, which never has been done before. Aside from that, if you read the article you became slightly more science literate.

[gus_massa]

Fusion with laser has been done before, by the same team. The difference is that they improve the experiment and this time they get ~50% more energy. Or if you evaluate it in other words, the efficiency improve from ~0.6% to 1%, or less depending on what do you define by input energy. More details in other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7227620

[Kroem3r]

I think it is newsworthy, but not for the technical details. It's newsworthy because it's such a huge budget, because it's been neutered, because fusion energy research is pathetically funded, and because NIF is like a mean old dog lying in front of the fireplace, farting from time to time - it creams the resources and makes alternatives unappealing.

[NatW]

It’s a very important milestone achieved by a clever invention to harness the brute force better.