Color of universe is 'Cosmic Latte'

BALTIMORE -- Good news for coffee lovers: Space, the final frontier, is the color of a latte. So say astronomers Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry at Johns Hopkins University.

In January, the two determined that the universe was a pale turquoise, then after discovering a glitch in their software in March, they realized that the average color was actually a milky brown.

Not knowing what to call it, besides beige, they solicited suggestions, prompting nearly 300 e-mails with ideas including Big Bang Beige and Cappuccino Cosmico.

The winner? Cosmic Latte.

Cosmic Latte is also appropriate because it's close to "latteo," which "means Milky Way in Galileo's native Italian," the pair wrote on their Web site.

Reaction to the name was mixed among coffee drinkers.

"You've got to be kidding," said Steve Gibbons, a 24-year-old law clerk, while buying a large black coffee. "That's a sign that Starbucks will take over the universe."