Found 4 talks width keyword Cepheids

The MAGIC telescopes are a stereoscopic system
of two 17m mirror diameter Cherenkov telescopes for gamma-ray observations, in operation since many years on the island of
La Palma at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.
A new installation allows us to use those telescopes as optical
intensity interferometer which enables us to measure the size of bright
objects in the range of 0.6-1.5 milli-arcsec and other physical
parameters. In this presentation the setup is explained, our physics
targets, first results and also a future outlook of this project
with respect to the Cherenkov telescope array (CTA) currently
in construction.

Twenty years ago, no one convincingly knew the age or the size of the
Universe to within a factor of two. Ten years ago, everyone agreed on
those same two numbers to within 10%. Today, we arguably have brought
the errors down by another factor of two. But that has led to anxiety
rather than euphoria, renewed interest rather than complacency. The
problem is that there are now two independent, competing methods
giving answers of comparable precision and accuracy:
one is a model-based method using the cosmic microwave background
(the CMB), the other is a geometric, parallax-based method using local
measures of distances and expansion velocities. To within about
two-sigma the methods agree.  To within about two-sigma the methods
disagree. And basic physics (a fourth neutrino species, perhaps) hangs
in the balance.

I will discuss how this "tension" arose and how it will soon be
relieved.  A tie-breaker has been identified and developed, and it is
now being worked on from the ground and from space.