In March 2002, the scientific world was rocked by some astonishing news: a distinguished US government scientist claimed he had made nuclear fusion out of sound waves in his laboratory. Rusi Taleyarkhan's fusion breakthrough was based on a little-understood process called sonoluminescence. It's a process that magically transforms sound ...

Dr. Robert Bussard talks at Google about a cheaper alternative to thermonuclear fusion; inertial electrostatic confinement fusion, a process that converts hydrogen and boron directly into electricity, producing helium as the only waste product. Bussard is the former Asst. Director of the Atomic Energy Commission.