Slaying The "Age Paradox"; December 1997; Scientific American Magazine; by Mukerjee; 2 Page(s)

The universe is younger than some of its offspring, astrophysicists whispered last year. Born a mere nine to 12 billion years ago, it contains aging clumps of stars called globular clusters that looked to be 16 to 18 billion years old. This year a drum roll of press releases is declaring that the "age paradox" has been vanquished. Researchers analyzing data from the European Space Agency¿s Hipparcos satellite, the announcements claim, have shown that globular clusters may be only nine or 10 billion years old.

Some observers, on the other hand, aren¿t so quick to pronounce the age paradox as solved. Rather they are suggesting that Hipparcos¿s most profound result is to show that scientists don¿t understand stars very well at all.