Genesis Device
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In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Genesis Device was an experimental terraforming device. It was introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and we discovered that unlike existing terraforming methods, it could terraform an entire planet in hours. At the end of the film, we see the device detonating and forming a new, habitable world from scratch, out of the gas and dust of the Mutara Nebula.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock featured this world. We discover that one of the device's creators, Dr. David Marcus, son of Captain James T. Kirk, true to his father's legendary tendency to "think out of the box" when at a loss, had secretly utilized the dangerous and unstable substance "protomatter" in order to obtain functionality for the Genesis prototype. Also, the Genesis Device was intended to be used on a pre-existing planetary body. It was never intended to be used in a nebula, and never intended to be required to build an entire star system from scratch.
Both factors rendered the Genesis Planet unstable and short-lived, and so the experiment became a failure; however due to its destructive power beyond any known weapon, the device afterward became coveted for military purposes. It's debatable what effect the torpedo would have had if it was used as intended. The Genesis Device has not been seen since, and it is generally assumed its plans were destroyed or were being kept under lock and key, or else banned by treaty.