[0708.4013] The Axis of Opportunity: The Large-Scale Correlation of Elliptical Galaxies
There has been some evidence for a few years for a preferred axis in the universe in the sense that it doesn't look quite the same in all directions. Here is an interesting paper that claims to add to the intriguing bits of evidence. If this group of observations stands up (and I have reviewed the quasar polarization papers by Hutsemekers and others carefully and find them compelling), this is a major discovery at the level of dark energy. In some ways, cosmology has been converging on some long-sought answers (like exactly what is the expansion rate), but stumbling across unforeseen properties. Well, I'm teaching cosmology this semester and if this paper is reasonable, I may have my class read it, too.