This is not just more than usual, but actual ignition. They reportedly achieved ignition last year as well, but not a confirmed and repeatable scientific breake

This is not just more than usual, but actual ignition. They reportedly achieved ignition last year as well, but not a confirmed and repeatable scientific breakeven so they didn’t have a big announcement until today. Ignition is critical as it means that, to use an analogy, a flame has been kindled. The heat of fusion is driving significantly more fusion, no longer just the laser alone. In other words, a sort of chain reaction. That is THE key to eventually scaling this efficaciously to higher gains, like the 25-50 needed for useful electricity production.