I've been following fusion research on and off since I've been a little kid. It's always been far in the future. Back then it seemed like I could actually see a

I've been following fusion research on and off since I've been a little kid. It's always been far in the future. Back then it seemed like I could actually see a fusion reactor when I'm an old man. Now, 25 years later, the rate of progress generally feels like the date has shifted to "not in my lifetime". It's kind of a weird feeling. Edit: Addendum: I vividly remember images with visualization results for numerical simulations on the reactor vessel shape for Wendelstein 7-X. That was back in 1992 or so. This just shows how long this experiment was in the making.