BICEP2 experiment

The BICEP2 experiment aimed to detect ripples in space caused by gravitational waves from the universe's earliest moments, shortly after the Big Bang. Researchers measured the polarization of the cosmic microwave background—faint light from the universe’s infancy—to look for patterns indicating these waves. Detecting such signals would support theories about rapid expansion, called inflation. In 2014, BICEP2 announced it had found evidence of these gravitational waves, but later combined data with other experiments showed the signals were likely caused by interstellar dust, not primordial waves. It was a significant step in understanding the universe's origins, even if the initial results were reevaluated.