Over the past few years, researchers and a growing number of startups have made claims about bringing the world closer and closer to nuclear fusion — but the reality is far less impressive than that, with expensive reactors still requiring far more energy to get started than they are able to put out. China's new reactor will essentially replicate the detonation of a thermonuclear bomb by producing powerful electric pulses. These pulses generate enough pressure to fuse atoms together, a process which releases energy. In fact, all the preceding "Z-pinch" reactors that have been built around the world so far...