Results are in from a microwave map of the early universe, and the images help document the first trillionths of a second after the Big Bang. The data indicate that it took some 400 million years after the Big Bang for the first stars in the universe to form out of the primordial soup of gas, dust, and particles. The study also gives a recipe for making a universe of your own: take 4% ordinary matter, 22% dark matter, and blend in 74% dark energy -- a strange force acts as a sort of anti-gravity, powering the universe's expansion. We'll talk about the work, and its support for the 'Inflationary Universe' model.

We'll also hear about developments in patent law, with the Supreme Court hearing arguments in a case over the patenting of a method for diagnosing a vitamin deficiency. The case centers on US Patent No 4,940,658, "Assay for sulfhydryl amino acids and methods for detecting and distinguishing cobalamin and folic acid deficency," a two-step method for using lab tests to look for potential deficiencies in the B vitamins. Though that might not sound too interesting, the outcome of the case could determine the future direction of patent law in the U.S. -- including the question of just how far it's possible to go in patenting ideas or discoveries of physical laws, rather than tangible inventions. We'll talk about the case, and other patent issues in science and technology.

Plus, a look at art exhibitions that put real human cadavers on display. Several competing museum exhibitions are now touring the country that use a technique called plastination to solidify and colorize parts of the human body -- essentially turning a cadaver into a full-scale, incredibly detailed plastic model of itself. The results are simultaneously grisly and fascinating. We'll talk with the medical director associated with one of the displays. See a slideshow of images from Bodies in Exhibition

Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern). Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.

Guests:
Charles Bennett
Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Principal Investigator, W-MAP Project
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland

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Dr. Roy Glover
Professor Emeritus, Anatomy and Cell Biology
Former Chief Medical Director, Medical School Polymer Preservation Laboratory
University of Michigan
Chief Medical Advisor, Premier Exhibitions
Atlanta, Georgia

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Robin Feldman
Professor of Law
Director, Hastings' Law and Bioscience Project
University of California Hastings College of the Law
San Francisco, California

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This segment produced by Annette Heist