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91av's popular Last Word series gives readers the opportunity to answer each other's questions about everyday science phenomena, from the shape of scones to the evolutionary history of toenails. To answer a question or ask a new one, email lastword@newscientist.com

The events surrounding the Big Bang were so cataclysmic that they left an indelible imprint on the fabric of the cosmos. We can detect these scars today by observing the oldest light in the Universe. As it was created nearly 14 billion years ago, this light ???????? which exists now as weak microwave radiation and is thus named the cosmic microwave background (CMB) ???????? has now expanded to permeate the entire cosmos, filling it with detectable photons. The CMB can be used to probe the cosmos via something known as the Sunyaev-Zel????????dovich (SZ) effect, which was first observed over 30 years ago. We detect the CMB here on Earth when its constituent microwave photons travel to us through space. On their journey to us, they can pass through galaxy clusters that contain high-energy electrons. These electrons give the photons a tiny boost of energy. Detecting these boosted photons through our telescopes is challenging but important ???????? they can help astronomers to understand some of the fundamental properties of the Universe, such as the location and distribution of dense galaxy clusters. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observed one of most massive known galaxy clusters, RX J1347.5????????1145, seen in this Picture of the Week, as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). This observation of the cluster, 5 billion light-years from Earth, helped the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to study the cosmic microwave background using the thermal Sunyaev-Zel????????dovich effect. The observations made with ALMA are visible as the blue-purple hues. Links ESO Picture of the Week RX J1347.5????????1145 seen by Hubble only

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We know how matter took shape, but how was space formed?

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Mass Product of Beer Bottles, Rows of glass production alcohol on industrial conveyor belt, top view.; Shutterstock ID 2416496749; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

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Is the volume of gas at top of a beer bottle the same for all beers?

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P2H56B Weasel standing upright, Mustela nivalis, Germany

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This week’s new questions

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Issue no. 3534 published 15 March 2025

91av issue 3534 cover
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