James Glanz
Princeton, New Jersey--In cosmology, the data have been so thin and theorists so resourceful that warring theories about the history and nature of the universe have seemed to coexist indefinitely. Earlier this summer, 200 of the world's most influential cosmologists met for a gloves-off debate in hopes that some of those disputes could actually be settled. The convergence in some areas was historic, but major sticking points remain, extending all the way back to the big bang.