Detected by their temperature differentials, these distinct regions of space are believed to be the primordial seeds produced in the Big Bang. Scientists believe that over billions of years these structures evolved into galaxies and the large structures of the present-day universe. The smallest area we can measure with the DMR would hold millions of galaxies like our Milky Way, with plenty of room between them. Compared to that, the dinosaurs might as well have died yesterday. It's as close to the start as we're ever likely to get.
Dark matter remains an enigma to science.
Its existence is inferred only because its gravity influences the motion of ordinary matter. Yet, dark matter is unlike ordinary matter or anything conceived even in laboratory accelerators. In the case of these primordial structures, what we're seeing is only the gravitational effects. That's its footprint. Theory tells us that these vast regions cannot be composed of just ordinary matter.