Behind the universe’s odd spots (Image: Lawrence Lawry/SPL)

A BUBBLE of space that expanded differently to the rest of the early universe could explain a strange “cold spot” in the afterglow of the big bang. Such bubbles might have formed just fractions of a second after the universe came into existence, when it grew dramatically in size.

“It would be an unexpected gift, because we would all of a sudden have a very good window on inflation,” says Anže Slosar of the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, part of the team that put forward the idea.

Much …