What caused the tiny variations in the Cosmic Microwave Background?

[Ich]

With regard to baryogenesis, is it at all possible that baryons could appear from virtual space without also generating anti-baryons, or is this simply an impossibility?

Don't know what you mean by "virtual space", but obviously there are more baryons than anti-baryons. The mechanism is not well understood. However, there has been http://www.physorg.com/news193403945.html" recently.

With regard to the redshift of CMB, I recall reading there are some skeptics that question the accuracy of the distance/speed of the CMB calculated from the redshift, but also read it didn't hold much weight.

No, that's quite established in mainstream physics. If you're interested, http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/stdystat.htm" 's a diatribe on such fringe claims. The whole website is worth reading.

 

[Chronos]

There are also those who contend the surface of the sun is composed of iron. These arguments also do not hold water [or iron]. Science is built upon pillars of sound observational evidence. A few termites are unlikely to undermine that foundation. We do, however, still have much to learn. Some of the 'truths we hold near and dear today will eventually be replaced by better models. But, that is how science works. Show me the money, as they say in the hallowed halls of academia.

 

[ViewsofMars]

Don't know what you mean by "virtual space", but obviously there are more baryons than anti-baryons. The mechanism is not well understood. However, there has been http://www.physorg.com/news193403945.html" recently.

Thanks Ich. Here is the entire publication that pertains to your link from physorg.com. It does discuss baryons as well:

Fermilab-Pub-10/114-E
May 16, 2010
Evidence for an anomalous like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1005/1005.2757v1.pdf

Also, the European Space Agency has a wonderful website that discusses the Big Bang Theory. Here is a snippet from that page.

Low-energy clues to a high-energy puzzle
The CMB pervades every direction in the sky with almost the same brightness. But measurements of its apparent temperature have revealed that tiny differences do exist — as tiny as one part in a million.

The tiny variations hold clues to profound puzzles, they are actually imprints left behind by matter in the past.

At the beginning of the Universe’s life, temperatures were still very high: three minutes after its birth, the temperature was about 1 thousand million degrees K. Under these conditions, matter was ionised and tightly coupled to radiation, i.e. light could not travel freely. By studying the energy distribution of the photons at this early time, we can learn what the properties of matter were back then.

Slowly, as the universe expanded and cooled to below 10 000K, the ions began to recombine—this event is known as ‘recombination’. Recombination was complete about 380 000 after the Big Bang, when the Universe cooled to 3000K, and light was able to travel freely.

Most primordial matter is comprised of neutral hydrogen gas. It is transparent, so most of the light originating from this early period of the Universe’s history is able to reach us in its almost original state.

With the expansion of the Universe, the wavelength of the light emitted (CMB) has increased, and as a consequence the temperature of the CMB has changed from its original 3000K to 2.7K as is observed today. The ratio by which the wavelength has increased tells us about the factor by which the Universe has expanded since the time the photons were emitted.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Planck/SEM1R20YUFF_0.html#subhead2