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Einstein's constant

In this map, built on the basis of the observations of the Planck spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency, you can see the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the earliest observable light of the universe, and it gives us the best picture ever of the universe in its early childhood. The blue areas in the sky represent points where the temperature of the background radiation, and in any case also of the early universe, is lower, and the red areas reflect warmer places. Proponents of the inflationary theory, which holds that the universe expanded rapidly in its early moments, argue that the pattern of hot and cold spots is consistent with this idea. However, the theory can actually produce any pattern, and in most of its versions it produces larger temperature differences than this map shows. Moreover, if inflation did occur, the background radiation should include evidence for cosmic gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime caused by the primordial stretch, but it does not. Instead, the Planck data reveal that the true story of our universe's history is still far from over. Source: ESA and the Planck Collaboration.

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