Ripple of excitement

摘要

A signal from the beginning of the universe, detected at the end of the Earth. To find the faint marks left by gravitational waves on the big bang's afterglow, physicists had to hunker down at the South Pole; one heroic researcher endured three harsh Antarctic winters in succession. The BICEP2 team's efforts were rewarded this week, when they announced to mass acclamation that they had indeed found those marks. Their finding supports inflation - the idea that the universe "boomed" briefly in its infancy - which in turn hints that our universe may be only one of many (see page 8). It is a champagne moment for physicists, made all the sweeter because many felt it would never come.