Is The Universe Symmetric?

Science news in the past few weeks included a finding that the answer is no. Why should I care if the universe is symmetric? And why should I read about the evidence? Since the beginning of scientific cosmology (it began with Einstein, of course, in a footnote to his exposition of General Relativity) — since the beginning of cosmology, everyone in this field has assumed that the universe is extraordinarily symmetric. Perfectly symmetric, in a sense I’ll explain. Why have they all bet the farm on such perfection? And how much of the story of the Big Bang and 13.7 billion years and dark energy and accelerating expansion — how much of this is cast in doubt if it turns out the universe is not symmetric?

Is The Universe Symmetric?