for some reason, all the news articles are extremely misleading.
previous output ratio for this fusion method was something like 70%, now it is 150%. it's a useful improvement, but not a major breakthrough. the whole system still consumes 100x more energy than it produces. 100MJ of energy is needed to power the laser. the laser generates only 2MJ of energy that powers fusion. fusion generates 3MJ of output energy. so all the articles are saying "they put 2MJ energy and got 3MJ energy back". no, they put 102MJ and got 3MJ.
as somebody already explained to you earlier, the NIF uses arcane lasers because their focus is not lasers at the moment, it is fusion. At current tech level we have about 20% laser efficiency (with some types as much as 50%, not sure if they apply). this experiment specifically was about energy positive from a fusion reaction which has never been done except for uncontrolled things like hydrogen bombs. as far as a fusion milestone goes, this is a big deal.
Also, the other thing most commenters are missing here is the remaining problems are incrementally solvable so we should see steady improvements in laser efficiency and pellet optimization going forward. this is even doable with VC money (which we have some now but not significant). in that sense it is a pretty decent development.
for some reason, all the news articles are extremely misleading.
previous output ratio for this fusion method was something like 70%, now it is 150%. it's a useful improvement, but not a major breakthrough. the whole system still consumes 100x more energy than it produces. 100MJ of energy is needed to power the laser. the laser generates only 2MJ of energy that powers fusion. fusion generates 3MJ of output energy. so all the articles are saying "they put 2MJ energy and got 3MJ energy back". no, they put 102MJ and got 3MJ.