The universe might be shaped like a doughnut, not like a pancake, new research suggests

purple, pink and magneta elliptical image of cosmic microwave background

The universe could, in fact, be a giant doughnut, despite all of the evidence suggesting it's as flat as a pancake, new research suggests. 

Strange patterns found in echoes of the Big Bang could be explained by a universe with a more complicated shape, and astronomers have not fully tested the universe's flatness, the study finds.