Are there any Energy Sources that Could Give an Even More Powerful Bomb than the Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs?

At the present time we have two extremely powerful bombs: the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb In practice, it actually takes an atomic bomb to trigger a hydrogen bomb. And of course everyone knows that the hydrogen bomb is much more powerful than the atomic bomb. Each of these bombs is based on a process that is critical to the existence of the universe. The atomic bomb depends on a process called fission in which heavy atoms split and give off energy in the process. Atomic bombs use either uranium-235 or plutonium, and as it turns out they are limited in power. You cannot build an atomic bomb of unlimited power. Hydrogen bombs, on the other hand, are possible because of a process called fusion. It is the process that powers our sun, and every other star in the universe, and it is generated when light atoms come together and join, or fuse. One of the problems in this case is that you need extremely high temperatures for the process to take place. This is where the atomic bomb comes in. An atomic explosion produces temperatures high enough for fusion to occur. And unlike the atomic bomb, there is -- at least in theory -- no limit to the power of a hydrogen bomb. The most powerful American hydrogen bomb had an explosive equivalent of about 50 megatons of TNT. The Russians, however, built one that was even more powerful than this. It's unlikely, however, that any nation will try to build one that is even more powerful. The problems that would occur may be insurmountable. And thankfully, there's no other process in nature -- aside from fission and fusion -- that we know of that could be used to build a larger bomb.

Barry Parker: author of "The Physics of War: From Arrows to Atoms"