It's an extremely odd discovery - a volume almost a billion light-years across and empty not only of normal matter such as stars, galaxies and planets - but as well, of the puzzling substance scientists call 'dark matter'.

Astronomers at the University of Minnesota announced their findings on Aug 23, 2007. Associate Professor Liliya Williams commented, "What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the Universe."

The question which will now need to be answered by astronomers, astrophysicsts and cosmologists, is ''how has this hole come to be'?

"Cosmologists are often in error but never in doubt" is a quote attributed to Lev Landau a prominent Soviet physicist and winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physics. On the surface, Landau's statement may appear to be dismissive, however, it would be simplistic to claim that he implies a criticism leading to an assertion that science as a tool for acquiring knowledge is insufficient in some manner. Landau was referring to a tendency for cosmologists to make bold claims regarding the nature of some observed state or system – arguing that theirs was the correct view. In many cases only after new observations and new theories did many who made such claims see that their earlier beliefs were incorrect.

Cosmology, or at least the essential question that cosmology asks - what is the history and future of the Universe - has been with us since primitive times. Possibly it's something that all human being share in common as doubtless most of us have wondered about the shared origins and destinies of stars, planets, metals, gasses - all matter and energy, essentially - and of course, ourselves.

The road towards a scientific understanding of the universe has had many scientific 'household names' involved with it, notably; Galileo, Newton, Einstein and Stephen Hawking. While there are more scientists and cosmologists today than ever before, and our theories have become more detailed, our instruments more sensitive, the sheer vastness of space still produces many surprises such as this recent discovery of such an extremely large empty volume.

So, where do we go from here?