"The quasars observed in the early universe resemble giant babies in a delivery room full of normal infants," observed Avi Loeb of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "One is left wondering: what is special about the environment that nurtured these giant babies? Typically the cold gas reservoir in nearby galaxies like the Milky Way is consumed mostly by star formation.

"It's a cosmic miracle," said Volker Bromm of The University of Texas at Austin, 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.

Just one of an infinite number of 'cosmic miracles?'  To read more, click here.