Scientists studying cosmic microwave background (the faint afterglow of the Big Bang) have detected a signal generated a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang began. They’ve found gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space-time. Physicists are especially excited (and they’re trying their best to get their non-physicist friends excited too) because studying these waves could help bridge the divide between our understanding of gravity and quantum mechanics. You can hear more about it here.
Image credit: This is the telescope they used to detect the gravitational waves. It’s called the South Pole Telescope, and it was photographed by Eli Duke.