ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation

Okay, kiddo, imagine that you have a big, delicious cake that you want to share with your friends. But, you put it in the oven to bake and then you forgot about it. After a while, you remembered the cake and took it out of the oven. But, now it's not hot and it's not fresh anymore. It's just a bit warm and it looks different than when you first put it in the oven.

Now, imagine that the whole universe is a big cake and a very long time ago, it was baked in a very hot oven called the Big Bang. As the universe expanded, it cooled down and it changed its physical appearance. Scientists wanted to find out more about the early universe and how it evolved, so they looked for any clues left behind from the Big Bang.

They discovered something called Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR). It's like the leftover warmth of the universe after the Big Bang that has been traveling through space ever since it first appeared. Scientists used special instruments and satellites to study this radiation and they saw that it matches up with what they expected to see if the universe did, in fact, start with a Big Bang.

So, in a way, CMBR is like the "cake" that was left behind after the universe "baked" and scientists used it to learn more about how the universe began and how it evolved over time.