One of the cool things about a scientific theory is that you can make testable predictions and then - well - test them. Consider the Big Bang theory. The Big Bang would have had aftereffects; one of which was background microwave radiation that has an energy signature amounting to about three degrees above absolute zero. Sure enough, that was discovered by Penzias and Wilson back in the 60s. Another prediction is that the Big Bang would have sent out gravity waves, which are ripples in space-time that are difficult to detect. But gravity waves do affect the background microwave radiation described above. They tend to polarize it - make the microwaves oscillate in a preferred dimension as they interact with gravity waves (if they exist). For the first time, the background microwave radiation has been observed to be polarized - just as predicted by the Big Bang theory. news.discovery/space/astronomy/big-bangs-smoking-gun-discovered-140317.htm
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 17:12:20 +0000