1. At the same time, however, Clinton is riding an unforeseen economic boom that rivals the expansion rates of the Reagan years. 2. A higher Hubble constant means a faster expansion rate, which allows the observable universe to get to its current size in less time. 3. Estimating the expansion rate of the universe is a notoriously difficult problem because of the lack of a single yardstick by which all distances can be measured. 4. Estimates of the expansion rate, also known as the Hubble constant, are fundamental to all theories of cosmic evolution. 5. For example, earlier this fall Hubble came up with a measure of the expansion rate of the universe. 6. If nothing else, scientists said, the new findings showed that the expansion rate and age of the universe are still open issues in cosmology. 7. Moisture levels can vary among popcorns, and so can the expansion rate. 8. Now astronomers have made new measurements that put the expansion rate somewhere between the extremes, though somewhat favoring the younger estimates. 9. Silk speculated that the estimates might simply reflect conditions in nearby space, where galaxies are underrepresented and as a result there was a more rapid expansion rate. 10. Something besides the gravity of matter, which should be slowing the expansion rate over time, must be acting to counteract gravity. |