The fate of the Universe is to expand faster and faster, forever. The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey is on course to be completed by the end of 2001. The 100,000 redshifts being presented today will be publicly released worldwide in early 2001. When the 2dF survey is complete, the team will be able to measure with fine precision the tiny fluctuations in galaxy densities on scales of 400 million light years - the same scales that are observed in the microwave background 13 billion years ago. Following closely on the heels of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey is the even more ambitious Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which aims to measure redshifts for one million galaxies over a 5-year period.
Every scientific result needs independent confirmation and cross-checking.