Number 108 (Story #1), December 28, 1992 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein NEW MEASUREMENTS OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB) reinforce the conclusion, reached earlier this year by scientists using the COBE satellite, that tiny temperature fluctuations in the early universe can be observed. A balloon-mounted detector has now mapped one-third of the sky (COBE covered the whole sky) at four microwave frequencies (different from COBE's) with an angular bite of 3.8 degrees (twice as narrow as COBE's). For all the differences in the two detectors, the balloon measurements of the CMB fluctuations were similar in magnitude and in distribution to those of COBE. The new results were reported by scientists from MIT (Stephan Meyer, 617-253-8153), NASA/Goddard, and Princeton at a recent cosmology meeting in Berkeley. (Science News, 19 & 26 Dec. 1992.)