Science: The Infinite Universe

Most contemporary cosmologists agree that the universe was created billions of years ago when a superdense clump of primordial matter exploded with incredible force. The hot gases created by the "big bang" were flung violently outward, gradually cooling and coalescing into great islands of stars, or galaxies, that are still moving away from one another. Last week, after years of study and calculation, two respected California astronomers, Allan Sandage and James Gunn, made separate but similar announcements: the universe will continue to expand forever.

That conclusion will be disturbing to those who find...

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