How do you iron out the folds in a universe? Our most precise map of the big bang's afterglow - the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - is flawed, distorted by the gravity of giant galaxies warping the fabric of space-time. Like creases in a map that obscure part of a coastline or a continent, the distortions hide details about the primordial universe. Now, Patricia Larsen at the University of Cambridge and her colleagues have a way to smooth out the map. The group is using the warmth emitted by dust in distant galaxies - the cosmic infrared background - to reverse the distortion.
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