Firing new shots

摘要

When lasers were invented in the 1960s they were little more than an exotic curiosity—a solution looking for something to solve. Now that lasers are found in everything from telephone cables to DVD players to the humble laser pointer, they have become almost prosaic. Time, then, to rekindle a little glamour, by using lasers to bring about nuclear fusion, the great prize of energy research. Next month researchers will try to persuade the European Commission to pay for the biggest laser-fusion project yet.