We are, of course, referring to the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, a probe whose principal investigator is a Berkeley scientist working with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

As we understand it, the survey measures the “distribution” of galaxies throughout the universe in a way that hasn’t been done before, doubling the number of “luminous red galaxies” that can be effectively seen at one time.

Crudely, the distribution of galaxies over time is related to dark energy (believed by some to be a cause of the universe’s accelerated expansion), and studying the distribution might answer questions about if Einstein’s theory of general relativity is missing something or whether dark energy exists at all. Neato!

A unique way to measure dark energy with galaxies and quasars [Science Centric]