Cosmic Bruises

A far out and intriguing theory of the universe. I'll be waiting to see if this pans out a couple years from now.

From Technology Review (MIT)...

These guys start with a different model of the universe called eternal inflation. In this way of thinking, the universe we see is merely a bubble in a much larger cosmos. This cosmos is filled with other bubbles, all of which are other universes where the laws of physics may be dramatically different to ours. These bubbles probably had a violent past, jostling together and leaving "cosmic bruises" where they touched.

Researchers say they've found tentative evidence of this bruising in the form of circular patterns in cosmic microwave background. In fact, they've found four bruises, implying that our universe must have smashed into other bubbles at least four times in the past.

This is an extraordinary result: the first evidence of universes beyond our own.

The only way to settle this will be to confirm or refute the findings with better data. New data is forthcoming [in a couple of years] thanks to the Planck spacecraft that is currently peering into the cosmic microwave background.