Lopsided Map of the Cosmos Offers New Clues to the Universe’s Origins

Lopsided Map of the Cosmos Offers New Clues to the Universe’s Origins

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If our universe slammed into a neighboring one during a growth spurt in its first second, the collision would have left a mark.

And Matthew Kleban thinks he sees it in the most detailed snapshot yet taken of the dawn of the universe. The satellite image, released by astronomers in March, confirmed what an earlier image suggested: Half of the young cosmos was slightly coarser than the other.

With few other leads about what went on in the early moments of the universe, Kleban is among dozens of theoretical cosmologists trying to piece together a cosmic origin story from the grainy shadow of a new clue.