This is a much more exciting study than it originally seems. They appear to claim that an observed state of sodium at high pressure has bonds between core elect

This is a much more exciting study than it originally seems. They appear to claim that an observed state of sodium at high pressure has bonds between core electrons. If you recall from your chemistry class, bonds were only known to occur between valence electrons. This is an entirely new regime of chemistry that can best be described as "here there be dragons." Bonds between core electrons are predicted to be thousands of time stronger than bonds between valence bonds. So while incredibly unlikely, it may be possible for materials orders of magnitude stronger to exist. Even if such materials can only exist for short periods of time they may be quite disruptive, breaking said bonds releases thousands of times more energy than known chemical reactions. This has been proposed as a means to make thermonuclear bombs without a fissile trigger[0]. Temporarily forming said bonds could be used to shape a long pulse from conventional explosives or an electron beam to a much shorter one allowing fusion to be ignited. Again, this is still VERY out there, but this is an entirely new form of chemistry we have no idea what to expect. HERE THERE BE DRAGONS. [0]https://arxiv.org/abs/0802.3408 https://arxiv.org/abs/0802.3408