Hitherto, the laser has been very successful to study atomic physics. The possibility to amplify lasers to extreme peak power offers a new paradigm unifying the atomic and subatomic worlds, to include Nuclear physics, High Energy Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology. This application needs extreme intensities. At the moment we are experiencing a rush toward the 10 PW led by the 3-pillar ELI infrastructure along with Apollon in France and similar infrastructures in Russia, USA, China and Korea.

One of the most intriguing applications is the possibility to produce extraordinary large gradients in the TeV/cm regime or 1000 times what is possible with LWA in the visible. Also we will discuss what the generation of GeV protons with numerous applications in proton therapy, short-lived isotope production, nuclear waste transmutation and the like.