CLOUDED BY A VEIL OF DUST

摘要

Euphoria overtook the science world on March 17, when members of the BICEP2 team announced the discovery of gravitational waves that represented the "first tremors of the Big Bang." A couple of months later, two independent analyses claimed the BICEP2 researchers had underestimated the effects of dust in our galaxy, as it could produce the pattern they had attributed to gravitational waves. On Sept. 22, data from the Planck space telescope showed that the portion of the sky BICEP2 studied contained more galactic dust than previously assumed. The two teams have joined forces to determine whether the signal BICEP2 detected originated, at least in part, from gravitational waves, or if it's entirely explained by dust. The results should appear in late 2014. Meanwhile, astronomers are continuing the kinds of observations undertaken by BICEP2, which are still regarded as the most promising means of witnessing the birth throes of our universe.