Astronomy
How Baryon Acoustic Oscillations are Imprinted in Galaxy Clustering
Quick fact
The same sound waves that left ripples in the cosmic microwave background also created a subtle 'bump' in the probability of finding two galaxies about 500 million light-years apart—a distance called the baryon acoustic oscillation scale.
Why this is interesting
The universe has a 'cosmic yardstick' hidden in the way galaxies are spread across space. Could the remnants of sound waves from the Big Bang be the key to measuring the cosmos?