A research group led by Prof. Matthias Kling of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (MPQ) and the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich (LMU), in cooperation with the American University in Sharjah, has discovered a new method for the production of protonated hydrogen (H+3). With the aid of high-intensity laser pulses, they were able to trigger a reaction between water molecules on the surface of nanoparticles resulting the creation of trihydrogen ions. This scenario mimics the conditions found in outer space, in which dust/ice particles are exposed to radiation that is energetic enough to induce the formation of trihydrogen ions.