Scientists recreate the universe’s first molecule in the lab

Scientists recreate the universe’s first molecule in the lab

About 13.8 billion years ago, the newborn universe was a blazing sea of energy and particles. Within minutes of the Big Bang, conditions had cooled enough for the very first atoms—mostly hydrogen, helium, and a touch of lithium—to form. But it wasn’t until much later, when these atoms began linking up into molecules, that the stage was set for stars to flicker into existence. One of those first molecules was helium hydride, or HeH⁺. For decades,…