18:00 27 February 2013
With theory at an impasse, the next breakthrough in physics is likely to come from an experiment. We introduce seven potential game-changers, starting with the behemoth that's soon to get bigger…
Read more: "Crunch time for physics: What's next?"
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The Planck probe
Radiation left over from the big bang contains vital clues about the early universe. The most detailed maps of it are coming from the European Space Agency's Planck satellite
, launched in 2009. It can capture the radiation precisely enough to measure cosmological quantities without making many theoretical assumptions, detect the rippling of gravitational waves and test various models of the inflation thought to have occurred during the big bang
. It will even let us explore ideas outside of our standard cosmology, such as parallel worlds. Valerie Jamieson (Image: ESA)