Findings from a new study into the cosmic "afterglow" may rewrite the history of the universe, according to researchers.

This afterglow—the "cosmic microwave background" (CMB), the relic radiation left behind by the Big Bang—has given astronomers insights into the birth of the universe and helped shape the standard model of cosmology.

However, new research has calculated that the strength of this afterglow may have been overestimated—a fact that would call the standard model into question.

"According to our calculations," explained paper author and University of Bonn astrophysicist professor Pavel Kroupa in a statement, "it could be that this background radiation doesn't exist at all.

"At the very least, we are convinced that its strength has been underestimated."

In their study, Krou

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