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| | Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | Illuminating the 'dark ages' of the universe |
 | | When the European dark ages ended with the coming of the Renaissance in the 14th century, society was illuminated by new "stars" of science, art and literature like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, and Dante. |
 | | But with the ending of the cosmic dark ages as the first stars began to shine, the universe - like western civilization - moved out of the dark ages and into the age of illumination. |
 | | When the universe was about 370,000 years old, it cooled enough for electrons and protons to unite, recombining into neutral hydrogen atoms and allowing the relic CMB radiation from the Big Bang to travel almost unimpeded across the cosmos for the past 13 billion years. |
| www.spaceflightnow.com /news/n0405/04darkages (1034 words) |
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