So we've been working on fusion for a long time, now it looks like we're getting close, but if we were actually close then we would have gotten there already so we must not be close? Is this a new version of Zeno's paradox?
It's not that. Just that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the evidence we have is pretty slight. Doesn't mean it's impossible, does mean we are justified to be skeptical until they publish more detail results.