In their study of the cosmic microwave background (a faint, ubiquitous, primordial radiation in the sky left over from the early universe), the group detected a signal thought to represent the absorption of this radiation by the very first stars when they formed many billions of years ago. For decades now, cosmologists and astronomers have assumed that much of the matter in our universe takes the form of dark matter. Indeed, our best models of the evolution of the universe all assume the existence of dark matter. If so, one can expect that a similar signal will soon be detected by other groups with their own instruments. Dr Cormac O’Raifeartaigh lectures in physics at Waterford Institute of Technology and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society

Source: The Irish Times March 26, 2018 09:56 UTC