"Just because we can" is sometimes enough reason for what otherwise looks like pointless activity (BASE jumping, NFL football, sudoku, putting boots on the moon with no clearly defined purpose etc.) but when it comes to actual utility, why we think creating our own sun-in-a-bottle is better than using the actual freely gifted fusion reactor we already have continues to mystify me. The trade for any gain is starkly lopsided.

#FusionPower
#PoeticHubris

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-026-02022-9

Fusion power unlikely to become competitive - Nature Energy

While nuclear fusion power is often hailed as a future source of abundant, clean energy, current dominant fusion designs, magnetic and laser inertial, are unlikely to become competitive due to their expected low experience rates. Accordingly, policymakers should not rely on, or fund, fusion power as a core pillar of future clean energy systems unless designs with different characteristics are developed.

Nature