Scientists Recreated the Universe’s First Molecule
Seconds after the Big Bang, the newborn universe gave rise to the first elements—ionized forms of hydrogen and helium. These particles combined, forging helium hydride—the first ever molecule. It would take another several hundred million years for the first stars to be born, and scientists have long puzzled over the exact nature of the chemical processes that led to their formation. To try and tease apart the stellar origin story, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in H