{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.023166023166023165, 'fraction_numerical': 0.01287001287001287, 'mean_word_length': 4.762962962962963, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
An evolving Universe in a pot of liquid helium

Condensed matter physics and cosmology might be thought to share little common ground. The behaviour of helium near absolute zero and the earliest stages of the Big Bang, when the Universe was at extremely high temperatures, would be expected to have even less in common. But this is not the case because phase transitions play a central role in both condensed matter and cosmology. Now, experiments with liquid helium, by Peter McClintock and co-workers at Lancaster and Exeter universities in the UK, have provided new evidence supporting the theory that "defects" generated as the early Universe underwent a phase transition are responsible for the large-scale structure we see today (P C Hendry et al. Nature (1994) 368 315).