On March 17, 2014, scientists announced the discovery of what they believe to be the faint gravitational echo of the Big Bang. The discovery is based on cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) observations by the “Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization” (Bicep-2) telescope at the south pole. So what does pigeon poop have to do with this? Well, if it were not for pigeons, we would never have known about the CMB radiation in the first place. …