Using laser-fusion technology, experts hope to add "clean, inexhaustible energy source" to the laser's distinguished resume. Using lasers in combination with nuclear fusion, scientists at the Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility (NIF) hope to mimic "the process that fuels the sun, stars and hydrogen bombs," Robert S. Boyd writes for McClatchy Newspapers. The researchers plan to combine 192 lasers in order to create the pressure and heat needed to force hydrogen atoms to fuse; the "combination loses a tiny bit of mass, which turns into a huge quantity of energy," Boyd explains. "It's Einstein's formula in action." According to NIF, a laser-fusion energy plant would never pose a threat of meltdown, as opposed to the traditional atomic energy plant. It would emit little radioactive fallout and zero greenhouse gases. Unlike solar or wind power, it wouldn't be dependent on weather conditions and could operate round-the-clock.