For over 60 years, scientists and engineers have been trying to crack a seemingly intractable problem: how to build practical devices that exploit nuclear fusion. Access to electricity has facilitated a standard of living that was previously unimaginable, but as the world''s population grows and developing nations increasingly reap the benefits of electrification, we face a serious global problem: burning fossil fuels currently produces about eighty percent of the world''s energy, but it produces a greenhouse effect that traps outgoing infrared radiation and warms the planet, risking dire environmental consequences unless we reduce our fossil fuel consumption to near zero in the coming decades. <div>Nuclear fusion, the energy-producing process in the sun and stars, could provide the answer: if it can be successfully harnessed here on Earth, it will produce electricity with near-zero CO2 byproduct by using the nuclei in water as its main fuel. The principles behind fusion are under