"When you have a clear contradiction like this, you ought to focus on it," say scientists who found problems with the leading theory of galaxy evolution.
If science were ever restricted to observation, experimental demonstration, and evidence, some cosmologists left that reservation far behind long ago. Being smart does not preclude going nutty.
Some basic ideas about physics and astronomy remain so mysterious, and their explanations so flexible, they may lead some to question whether they should be called "hard sciences."