SPIDER-WEB SENSOR REVEALS A FLAT UNIVERSE

From: JPLNews@jpl.nasa.gov

Inspired by the elegant efficiency of spider webs, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., have designed a tiny, web-shaped sensor that maps faint structures in the early universe, reinforcing theories that the cosmos is flat in its geometry.

Carried on an internationally sponsored balloon experiment called BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics), the dime-sized sensor known as a "micromesh bolometer" is a prime example of NASA's success in developing miniaturized, high-performance technologies for space missions.