Mysteries of the universe

Scientific paper:
http://www.eso.org/public/archives/r...8/eso1438a.pdf

From the abstract:

We have measured the optical linear polarization of quasars belonging to
Gpc-scale quasar groups at redshift z ~ 1.3. Out of 93 quasars
observed, 19 are significantly polarized. We found that quasar
polarization vectors are either parallel or perpendicular to the
directions of the large-scale structures to which they belong.
Statistical tests indicate that the probability that this effect can be
attributed to randomly oriented polarization vectors is of the order of 1%.

We also found that quasars with polarization perpendicular to the host
structure preferentially have large emission line widths while objects
with polarization parallel to the host structure preferentially have
small emission line widths. Considering that quasar polarization is
usually either parallel or perpendicular to the accretion disk axis
depending on the inclination with respect to the line of sight, and that
broader emission lines originate from quasars seen at higher
inclinations, we conclude that quasar spin axes are likely parallel to
their host large-scale structures.

In the ESO press release:
'The alignments in the new data, on scales even bigger than current
predictions from simulations, may be a hint that there is a missing
ingredient in our current models of the cosmos,' concludes Dominique Sluse.

[Mod. note: non-ASCII characters removed, please post in ASCII -- mjh]