Abstract
Precision measurements of the CMB by WMAP have transformed our view of
the Universe in recent years. However, between us and the CMB lies
our Galaxy which produces microwave emission that is as bright or
brighter than the CMB through all WMAP bands. Although this emission
is most commonly regarded as a nuisance for studying cosmology, it
contains a wealth of information about the content of the interstellar
medium and can be used to study such disparate physics as the geometry
and composition of dust grains to the fundamental nature of dark
matter. I will discuss our technique for extracting the spectra of
foreground emission in the WMAP data and describe how these indicate
some surprising features in the Galactic microwave sky, including
concrete evidence for rapidly rotating dust grains (spinning dust) as
well as excess synchrotron towards the center of the Galaxy. This
excess is termed the "haze" and its origin is unknown, though I will
show that a generic self-annihilating particle dark matter model is
consistent with the data.