'Universe's 1st molecules' recreated in lab: What is their role
Scientists in Germany have managed to recreate helium hydride ions (HeH+)—the universe's very first molecules—under extremely cold laboratory conditions.
Their findings could shake up what we thought we knew about how stars formed in the early universe.
How did researchers conduct the study?
By chilling these ancient molecules to extremely low temperatures (minus 267 degrees Celsius) and smashing them into deuterium atoms, researchers found that the reactions stayed strong even in extreme cold.
This means HeH+ was much more active than scientists had predicted.
Implications for early universe and star formation
Because HeH+ helped create molecular hydrogen—the building block for stars—these results suggest that the very first stars might have formed quicker and more efficiently than anyone realized.
It's a big update for our understanding of how everything got started after the Big Bang.