Data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, or WMAP, launched in 2001, unexpectedly suggested that the universe may be lopsided — that is, hot and cold spots on one side of the cosmos appear hotter and colder than on the other. The evidence for this anomalyhas increased over time, and data from the Planck satellite launched by the European Space Agency in 2009 supports the existence of the same anomaly.
