title: loading a dataset in python (numpy) when there are variable spaces delimiting columns
body: <p>I have a big dataset contains numeric data and in some of its rows there are variable spaces delimiting columns, like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>4 5 6
  7  8    9
  2 3 4
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>When I use this line:</p>
  
  <pre><code>dataset=numpy.loadtxt("dataset.txt", delimiter=" ")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I get this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ValueError: Wrong number of columns at line 2
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How can I change the code to ignore multiple spaces as well?</p>