Fusion science. Report calls for improvements at Livermore's giant laser.

Fusion ScienceWill the world's biggest laser—designed to simulate the nuclear fusion that occurs in stars and thermonuclear weapons—ever work as advertised? A new U.S. government audit of the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California says the $4 billion behemoth faces "scientific and technical challenges and management weaknesses." But scientists associated with the project believe that the machine will do great science if Congress gives it a chance to flex its muscles.