Cosmic Microwave Map Swirls Indicate Inflation

Cosmic Microwave Map Swirls Indicate Inflation

This may sound like some obscure stuff for science geeks and perhaps it is that, but it is also one of the more important discoveries in the development of human knowledge. It is considered statistically solid evidence in support of our current "Big Bang" concept of the formation of the universe.

"Did the universe undergo an early epoch of extremely rapid expansion? Such an inflationary epoch has been postulated to explain several puzzling cosmic attributes such as why our universe looks similar in opposite directions. Yesterday, results were released showing an expected signal of unexpected strength, bolstering a prediction of inflation that specific patterns of polarization should exist in cosmic microwave background radiation -- light emitted 13.8 billion years ago as the universe first became transparent. Called B-mode polarizations, these early swirling patterns can be directly attributed to squeeze and stretch effects that gravitational radiation has on photon-emitting electrons. The surprising results were discovered in data from the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) microwave observatory near the South Pole."

Here's the layman's explanation: scientists postulated that if the Big Bang/Inflation theory was correct, ___x___ would have to be true. Today's finding is that ___x___ is true. Because science deals in relative degrees of likelihood, it does not automatically follow that the inflation theory is proven correct. The origin of the universe may have another unforeseen explanation that would produce the same result, for example. But the finding does show that the inflation hypothesis is fully supported by the observed evidence.

By the way, I can see no reason why reasonable people who believe in God would feel at all threatened by this finding. So the entire universe burst into existence in a very short time? If you keep an open mind, that's actually pretty consistent with the most common beliefs about how God's unseen hand caused it all to happen. Of course you have to jettison any belief that it happened 6000 years ago on our clocks, but just consider it like a super version of Daylight Savings Time and set those clocks back 13.8 billion years.