How did radio static help prove the Big Bang?
The Universe's Hiss
How did radio static help prove the Big Bang?
In 1964, two scientists in New Jersey had a brand-new radio antenna, big as a barn and shaped like a giant ear. They pointed it at the sky to listen for faint signals from space. But every direction they aimed it, they heard the same annoying hiss — a soft, steady static, like a TV tuned to nothing. They were not amused.
Their names were Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, and they were sure the hiss was a mistake. Static is supposed to come from SOMETHING — a city, a radar, a loose wire. So they did what anyone does with an annoying noise: they went hunting for the source, ready to switch it off.
