One of the advantages of being old enough to recall the earlier/actual "predictions" of Big Bang theory is that I've had the distinct pleasure of watching every new observation *falsify* their earlier claims.
For instance, when I was in school, I was told that the universe was expected to be "slowing down". When that "prediction' didn't work out right, they simply "fudged the numbers" with a liberal dose of 'dark energy".
I was also told that it took *billions* (plural) of years for galaxies to form, and there were no predictions about "supermassive black holes" forming anywhere near the beginning of the 'bang" process. Instead I was told that early galaxies were mostly formed of first generation large stars, when eventually died out and formed "small' black holes, which over time could 'merge" and form into larger black holes.
As we look back in time however, we do *not* observe what the mainstream "predicted" that we should observe with respect to quasars, so of course it's been one ad-hoc postdiction after another, after another. Here's another such ad hoc postiction.
And my favorite line of this new "postdiction"?
Apparently everything about LCDM is a "miracle"."It's a cosmic miracle," Bromm said, referring to the precise set of conditions present half a billion years after the Big Bang that allowed these behemoths to emerge. "It's the only time in the history of the universe when conditions are just right" for them to form.
These direct-collapse black holes may be the solution to a long-standing puzzle in astronomy: How did supermassive black holes form in the early epochs of the universe? There is strong evidence for their existence, as they are needed to power the highly luminous quasars detected in the young universe. However, there are several problems that should prevent their formation, and the conventional growth process is much too slow.
