November 6, 1996. Copyright, 1996, Graphic News. All rights reserved

CAMBRIDGE SCIENTISTS FIND THE ÔULTIMATE ANSWERÕ 

In the spring of 1978 the BBC broadcast what was to become an all-time cult science fiction saga; ÔThe Hitch-HikerÕs Guide to the GalaxyÕ. Written by Douglas Adams, the story follows the misadventures of a human, Arthur Dent, whom, having been saved from certain death during the demolition of Earth, is sent to find the Ultimate Question to Life, The Universe and Everything Ð to which the answer is 42.
Now, two decades later, scientists using Cambridge UniversityÕs Ryle Telescope have explored some of the most inaccessible corners of the cosmos, discovered invisible galaxies, found that the Big Bang of creation may be billions of years older than previously thought and re-calculated one of the fundamental mathematical cornerstones of the Universe Ð HubbleÕs Constant Ð and the answer is, youÕve guessed it, 42!
The scientists from the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory have utilised a chain of eight radio telescopes and an orbiting X-ray telescope to study background radiation, the dying echo of the Big Bang.
The team, led by Dr Richard Saunders, used the radio telescope array to see what happened to this Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation during its epic journey. As it passed through some of the largest structures in the universe, clusters of galaxies so immense that light can take six million years to travel from one end to the other, some of the radiation collided with ionised gas trapped by the galaxiesÕ massive attraction, resulting in ÔholesÕ in the signals. 
Data from two galactic clusters studied so far Ð Abell 2218 and Abell 1413 Ð enabled them to calculate a revised value for HubbleÕs Constant, 42, putting the age of the universe at about 15 billion years, older than previously suggested.
When he first saw the number, Dr Saunders confessed: ÔI just thought it was terribly funny. But, while itÕs nice joking about Ò42Ó, it is no more than a coincidence.Õ
In fact Dr SaundersÕ team are more excited about their discovery of mysterious, invisible structures, the first so-called Ôproto-clustersÕ of galaxies, which are so faint that none of their light ever reaches Earth.
Billions of years after the Big Bang, the universe continues to expand, but can it Ð will it Ð expand forever or collapse in on itself in a ÔBig CrunchÕ? Galactic hitch-hiker, Arthur Dent, may have the last laugh if he ever discovers the Ultimate Question to Life, The Universe and Everything Ð to which the answer is 42.

Sources: Cambridge Evening News, Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory