All Episodes

March 11, 2025 18 mins

What if we could harness the same energy that powers the stars to fuel our world? Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are working towards turning this vision into reality.

In this episode, we explore how fusion works, why it’s fundamentally different from today’s nuclear energy, and how the groundbreaking achievement of ignition at the National Ignition Facility is paving the way for future fusion power plants. Join us as we discuss the challenges, breakthroughs, and the global race to bring fusion energy to the grid.

-- 

Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series. 

Executive Produced by Lacey Peace and Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle. 

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle. 

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell. 

Narrated by Matthew Powell. 

Video Production by Levi Hanusch. 

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance): 

  • Tammy Ma, Lead, Inertial Fusion Energy Institutional Initiative, LLNL
  • Issa Tamer, Laser Scientist, LLNL

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Therapy Gecko

Therapy Gecko

An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.