I apologize to my readers for losing the article. Upon doing a search I found part of it listed in the NY Times' website and I present it here. Unfortunately, the meat and potatoes of the article is not available for free. Back in the old days, the 90's as I recall, the archives were free in libraries on microfilm. Anyone who is interested can try the library system in their area or go to the NY Times website and pay, sigh, to read the rest of the article.

"THE Big Bang theory, generally regarded as the best explanation for the origin, expansion and ultimate fate of the universe, is facing the first serious challenge to its validity in more than two decades. THE Big Bang theory, generally regarded as the best explanation for the origin, expansion and ultimate fate of the universe, is facing the first serious challenge to its validity in more than two decades. An alternative concept, plasma cosmology, drew physicists and astronomers to a meeting here last week to discuss recent observations that appear to contradict fundamental tenets of the Big Bang theory.

Laboratory studies, computer simulations and astronomy's latest findings appear to buttress the heretical position. Proponents of the newer theory believe that hot electrically charged gases known as plasma, the form in which nearly all observable cosmic matter exists, have played a critical but so far unappreciated role in shaping the universe - stars, galaxies and all. They contend ... sight. The Big Bang, by contrast, assumes gravity is the dominant shaping force and rests squarely on Einstein's interpetation of gravity in his general theory of relativity. In this model, the universe began at a single point in one explosive moment as much as 20 billion years ago and has been expanding steadily ever since.

Depending on how much mass there is, ... a ''big crunch.'' Proponents of the alternative concept, mostly plasma scientists, concede that their numbers are small and their influence slight, especially compared with the titans of astrophysical theory who maintain a firm allegiance to the Big Bang. But their ideas are drawing the attention of some astronomers. Plasma cosmology's earliest and most ardent advocate is Hannes Alfven, the Swedish physicist who won a Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work in founding the modern study of plasmas.

The 81-year-old physicist is a professor emeritus at the University of California at San Diego and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. ''The astrophysicists know they have problems with the Big Bang, and they're beginning to study our ..."