So we have a model, and we can calculate it, and we can use it
to make designs of what we think the universe really looks like.
And that design is sort of way beyond
what our original imagination ever was.
So this is what we started with 15 years ago,
with the Cosmic Background Explorer -- made the map on the upper right,
which basically showed us that there were large-scale fluctuations,
and actually fluctuations on several scales. You can kind of see that.
Since then we've had WMAP,
which just gives us higher angular resolution.
We see the same large-scale structure,
but we see additional small-scale structure.
And on the bottom right is if the satellite had flipped upside down
and mapped the Earth, what kind of a map we would have got of the Earth.
You can see, well, you can, kind of pick out
all the major continents, but that's about it.
But what we're hoping when we get to Planck, we'll have resolution
about equivalent to the resolution you see of the Earth there,
where you can really see the complicated pattern that exists on the Earth.
And you can also tell, because of the sharp edges
and the way things fit together, there are some non-linear processes.