Planck results: Universe older, slower and still challenging

On 21 March 2013, ESA’s Planck satellite revealed the most detailed map ever created of the cosmic microwave background [CMB], the relic radiation from the Big Bang. The results from Planck’s new map provided an excellent confirmation of the standard model of cosmology with unprecedented accuracy. However, the existence of unexplained features may challenge the foundations of the current understanding of the Universe.

According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe rapidly expanded from extremely hot and dense plasma of photons…