If you thought the cosmic web was tangled enough, think again.
The team used a dataset of 542 gamma-ray bursts with known redshifts, essentially meaning their distances are known.
The bursts are basically natures flashbangsextremely luminousbursts of high-energy light capable ofoutshining entire galaxiesfor brief moments.
A large galaxy cluster.Image: NASA, ESA, Harald Ebeling (University of Hawaii at Manoa) & Jean-Paul Kneib (LAM)
These brilliant bursts are observable from great distances, making them ideal cosmic signposts.
In other words: The structure stretches across a mind-bending amount of space and time.
Were talking billions of light-years.
But according to thecosmological principle, the universe should be roughly homogeneous on large scales.
But Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wallso named for the constellations in the same regionis far beyond that.
It makes theSloan Great Walland even theGiant Quasar Grouplook like dollhouses.
Of course, its also possible that were missing something fundamental in our understanding of how the universe evolved.
Frankly, its probably a bit of both.
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