Does light leave tracks? How is it possible for scientists to observe light that originated billions of years ago? These are questions that intrigue us and we are amazed when scientists figure out a way to observe what to most of us is un-observable.

The journey of light from the very early universe to modern telescopes is long and winding. The ancient light traveled billions of years to reach us, and along the way, its path was distorted by the pull of matter, leading to a twisted light pattern.

This twisted pattern of light, called B-modes, has at last been detected. The discovery, which will lead to better maps of matter across our universe, was made using the National Science Foundation’s South Pole Telescope, with help from the Herschel space observatory.