A Limitless New Energy Source?

Scientists are meeting this week to discuss one of the largest and most important scientific experiments in history -- next year's initial attempts at the aptly named National Ignition Facility (NIF) to produce the world's first controlled nuclear fusion reaction.

Researchers will focus the energy of 192 giant laser beams onto a BB-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel. These lasers represent the world's highest-energy laser system. The scientists hope that their effort will ignite, or fuse, the hydrogen atoms' nuclei to trigger the high energy reaction.

If successful, the experiment could lead to a limitless new source of energy.