In the December 21-28 issue of the journal Nature, scientists report
evidence for one prediction of that theory: that when the universe was
younger, this background temperature was higher than it is now.

The researchers are from Germany, France and India. They analyzed light
from a quasar that was absorbed by a distant cloud of gas dust billions
of years ago, when the universe was only about one-sixth of its present
age.

At that time, the new results indicate, the background temperature was
indeed warmer than the current mark of about minus 460 degrees
Fahrenheit (-273.33 Celsius). Their estimated temperature range agrees
with the prediction of big-bang theory, about minus 443 degrees F (-
263.89 Celsius).