I feel like we're really beginning to bond.

Yeah, I just wrote that as the title of the post, but there's a topic of greater importance which must be discussed! Recently a chemist at the University of California, Mao-sheng Miao, calculated it is possible not only for valence electrons, but also electrons of inner energy levels to form bonds with electrons of neighboring atoms. Though this greatly disagrees with many conventional chemistry lessons, Miao predicts this could happen with cesium and fluorine under very high pressure. Not only are the appearances of these studied compounds surprising to chemists but also its formation. Miao describes how chemical reactions focus on achieving minimal potential energy which start chemical reactions. This goal of obtaining minimal potential energy occurs at very high pressure and is why these compounds can form and behave in this way. As scientists look to experiment with this in the laboratory, scientists continue to look for abnormalities in the behavior of atoms. Read more in the article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chemical-bonds-inner-shell-electrons&page=2

As I read this article, I was really interested because the entire time I was wondering why this bonding between inner electrons was necessary. In high school chemistry classes, it is taught valence electrons can bond with valence electrons of other atoms in order to achieve equilibrium in their energy levels like the noble gases. Since the inner energy levels are already filled, I don't understand why these electrons would form bonds. This holds even more importance since electrons give atoms all of their properties thus may this behavior between inner electrons have any effect on the qualities of an atom? Still, the fact remains this theory of inner electron bonding is only supported with calculations. With no proof from  the laboratory, this theory might be as valid as Aristotle's theory of matter consisting solely of earth, wind, fire, and air.