Devil is in the Details
"A very small step for the universe, but a huge leap for mankind! For in this imperceptible yet immutable difference lay the seeds for all the atoms and all the people and all the stars and all the galaxies in the universe today."
Lawrence Kraus referring to the subtle but key asymmetry between matter and antimatter immediately following the big bang in his book 'Atom'.
"A very small step for the universe, but a huge leap for mankind! For in this imperceptible yet immutable difference lay the seeds for all the atoms and all the people and all the stars and all the galaxies in the universe today."
Lawrence Kraus referring to the subtle but key asymmetry between matter and antimatter immediately following the big bang in his book 'Atom'.
The Universe is Perfectly Flat ... Well, Almost
There has never been much doubt about the shape of the cosmos. Perhaps a few questions have surfaced at certain points, but none that couldn't be dismissed given enough time and a little ingenuity. The problem, however, is that over the past decade or so there has been a number of perplexing 'anomalies' that have surfaced. Some are are arguably questionable and can be dismissed, at least for the time being, on the basis of requiring more precise data, but a few do not appear to be going away any time soon. The question is, are the number and accuracy of these anomalies getting to a level that could potentially undermine the foundation upon which the seemingly unshakable flat universe model is based? With the most recent findings, (see Anomalies section of this website) there has not been enough time for the experts to develop the detailed arguments to properly defend the current flat model on all fronts. The release of the Planck mission data in March of 2013 supported a flat universe almost perfectly. But it is the 'almost' that may be the most intriguing aspect of the picture that is being painted. Planck, according to ESA, did confirm a number of anomalies first raised by WMAP. ..... Years from now, these anomalies may be seen as the seeds that led to a complete revamp of our understanding of the structure of the universe.
There has never been much doubt about the shape of the cosmos. Perhaps a few questions have surfaced at certain points, but none that couldn't be dismissed given enough time and a little ingenuity. The problem, however, is that over the past decade or so there has been a number of perplexing 'anomalies' that have surfaced. Some are are arguably questionable and can be dismissed, at least for the time being, on the basis of requiring more precise data, but a few do not appear to be going away any time soon. The question is, are the number and accuracy of these anomalies getting to a level that could potentially undermine the foundation upon which the seemingly unshakable flat universe model is based? With the most recent findings, (see Anomalies section of this website) there has not been enough time for the experts to develop the detailed arguments to properly defend the current flat model on all fronts. The release of the Planck mission data in March of 2013 supported a flat universe almost perfectly. But it is the 'almost' that may be the most intriguing aspect of the picture that is being painted. Planck, according to ESA, did confirm a number of anomalies first raised by WMAP. ..... Years from now, these anomalies may be seen as the seeds that led to a complete revamp of our understanding of the structure of the universe.
