Lasers have usually represented weapons of mass destruction in movies such as "Star Wars," but a newly completed facility has begun harnessing lasers to create a fusion reaction rivaling the power of a miniature sun.
The National Ignition Facility has already test-fired all 192 giant lasers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California as part of this effort. The lasers will eventually focus their power on compressing and heating a single, pea-sized fuel capsule to more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit in order to trigger thermonuclear fusion.
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