3 ms·

Scientists have recreated the Universe's first molecule

29 points by LAsteNERD 1y ago

LAsteNERD 1y ago
So does helium hydride just not exist naturally anymore? Wondering why they had to recreate it.
- rcxdude 1y ago
  Not in an easily accessible way. It's an extremely fragile and reactive molecule that more or less falls apart as soon as it touches anything else. It only naturally exists nowadays in the interstellar medium.
- terminalbraid 1y ago
  It's too reactive to exist in meaningful quantities on earth. The title is also stretching the bounds of credibility as helium hydride has been studied in a lab for about 100 years. What's novel about this experiment is studying reaction rates with deuterium at low temperatures to feed into early universe models.
- pytness 1y ago
  From the wiki[0]: "It is believed to be the first compound to have formed in the universe" They created the molecule under space conditions: "The experiment was carried out at the Cryogenic Storage Ring (CSR) at the MPIK in Heidelberg — a globally unique instrument for investigating molecular and atomic reactions under space-like conditions [...] They found that, contrary to earlier predictions, the rate at which this reaction proceeds does not slow down with decreasing temperature [...] Since the concentrations of molecules such as HeH⁺ and molecular hydrogen (H2 or HD) played an important role in the formation of the first stars, this result brings us closer to solving the mystery of their formation." [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_hydride_ion#Interstellar_medium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_hydride_ion#Interstella...
- HeliumHydride 1y ago
  Helium hydride doesn't exist naturally because it will protonate anything it comes into contact with.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - throwanem 1y ago
    Yet here you are. Protonating everything, no doubt.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
QuesnayJr 1y ago
The Wikipedia article on helium hydride has the most hardcore sentence I've ever seen on the site: "Since HeH+ reacts with every substance, it cannot be stored in any container." It sounds like something out of a comic book.
- lloeki 1y ago
  Later down: > In fact, HeH+ is the strongest known acid, with a proton affinity of 177.8 kJ/mol, or a pKa of −63 Long time I didn't do chemistry but that pKa made me jump off of my chair. For comparison hydrochloric acid is ~10. Since it's a charged molecule one could maybe contain it in an EM field to have some ready-to-use "eat anything" material. Almost - but not quite - as scary as FOOF: > Dioxygen difluoride reacts vigorously with nearly every chemical it encounters (including ordinary ice) leading to its onomatopoeic nickname FOOF (a play on its chemical structure and its explosive tendencies) "vigorously" being quite an understatement.
- perching_aix 1y ago
  I guess maybe via magnetic confinement it should still be possible to store?
- diggernet 1y ago
  Looking forward to Derek Lowe's take on this.
amelius 1y ago
I suppose that is ... progress?

29 points by LAsteNERD 1y ago

LAsteNERD 1y ago

So does helium hydride just not exist naturally anymore? Wondering why they had to recreate it.

rcxdude 1y ago
Not in an easily accessible way. It's an extremely fragile and reactive molecule that more or less falls apart as soon as it touches anything else. It only naturally exists nowadays in the interstellar medium.
terminalbraid 1y ago
It's too reactive to exist in meaningful quantities on earth. The title is also stretching the bounds of credibility as helium hydride has been studied in a lab for about 100 years. What's novel about this experiment is studying reaction rates with deuterium at low temperatures to feed into early universe models.
pytness 1y ago
From the wiki[0]: "It is believed to be the first compound to have formed in the universe" They created the molecule under space conditions: "The experiment was carried out at the Cryogenic Storage Ring (CSR) at the MPIK in Heidelberg — a globally unique instrument for investigating molecular and atomic reactions under space-like conditions [...] They found that, contrary to earlier predictions, the rate at which this reaction proceeds does not slow down with decreasing temperature [...] Since the concentrations of molecules such as HeH⁺ and molecular hydrogen (H2 or HD) played an important role in the formation of the first stars, this result brings us closer to solving the mystery of their formation." [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_hydride_ion#Interstellar_medium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_hydride_ion#Interstella...
HeliumHydride 1y ago
Helium hydride doesn't exist naturally because it will protonate anything it comes into contact with.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- throwanem 1y ago
  Yet here you are. Protonating everything, no doubt.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

QuesnayJr 1y ago

The Wikipedia article on helium hydride has the most hardcore sentence I've ever seen on the site: "Since HeH+ reacts with every substance, it cannot be stored in any container." It sounds like something out of a comic book.

lloeki 1y ago
Later down: > In fact, HeH+ is the strongest known acid, with a proton affinity of 177.8 kJ/mol, or a pKa of −63 Long time I didn't do chemistry but that pKa made me jump off of my chair. For comparison hydrochloric acid is ~10. Since it's a charged molecule one could maybe contain it in an EM field to have some ready-to-use "eat anything" material. Almost - but not quite - as scary as FOOF: > Dioxygen difluoride reacts vigorously with nearly every chemical it encounters (including ordinary ice) leading to its onomatopoeic nickname FOOF (a play on its chemical structure and its explosive tendencies) "vigorously" being quite an understatement.
perching_aix 1y ago
I guess maybe via magnetic confinement it should still be possible to store?
diggernet 1y ago
Looking forward to Derek Lowe's take on this.

amelius 1y ago

I suppose that is ... progress?