Energy in 2023.

The new year 2023 arrives with promising developments in fusion research. In December, scientists at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) focused 2.05 megajoules of laser light onto a capsule of fusion fuel and produced 3.15 megajoules of energy. This was the first laser-driven fusion demonstration in which the reaction produced more energy than the laser light used to start it-a goal set for NIF at its founding. Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Anne White, who was not involved in the work, described it to as "a major breakthrough." After a year of ups and downs in science policy and research, this was the kind of exciting event needed to propel scientists into the promises of 2023.