"Quantum fluctuations ... lead to an extra term in the Einstein equations which can be identified with a cosmological constant," Blin said in a recent paper on the subject. "Quantum fluctuations may therefore contribute to an accelerated expansion of the universe in accordance with newer observational data."

The Einstein gravity equation describes how gravity actually curves and shapes the fabric of space and time, a fabric Einstein first characterized in the early 20th century. The equation, Einstein's second most famous after E = mc squared, is almost as simple to write: R - 1/2gR = T.

The letters g and R on the left side of the equation describe how space and time actually weave together and curve. The T on the right side of the equation symbolizes mass and energy. The overall meaning is plain: mass and energy tell space and time how to curve.

Everyday activities provide examples of Einstein at work. Throw a ball through the air, and it travels a few yards in a path that eventually curves and lands back on Earth in a few seconds. The masses of the ball and Earth work together to curve the ball's path in space and time in a few yards and a few seconds.

Einstein was never quite satisfied with his gravity equation because he thought it predicted the universe would eventually curve in on itself and collapse. The universe, he theorized, needed balance, so he added a term -- a fabled constant C -- that described distant cosmology. His equation became R - 1/2gR + C = T.

This new equation, he thought, described the situation perfectly: a balanced universe that did not contract or expand. But when the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble produced hard evidence for an expanding universe, Einstein called the constant a mistake -- one of the biggest mistakes in scientific history.

Recently, however, astrophysicists have been taking another look at Einstein's constant. Hubble Space Telescope observations in 1998 produced evidence that not only is the universe expanding, it also is accelerating.

Einstein's constant, astronomers think, may provide a mathematical explanation for the strange phenomena. Just what the constant actually describes is still a mystery, even if it contributes to the acceleration. Blin believes the answer lies in another discipline that confounded Einstein -- quantum mechanics -- that describes the behavior of atoms and ultra-small particles.

At the smallest lengths, 10 to the power minus 35 meters, large-scale space time and small-scale quantum mechanics are intimately joined. Here, Blin claims, enough quantum hiccups can add up to one big movement of the entire cosmos, described by Einstein's discarded constant.

"Regarding Blin, I have a problem with why the quantum gravity fluctuations could affect our present universe, as he requires to explain the acceleration of the universe," University of Toronto astrophysicist John Moffat told United Press International. "He says that they average to some large macroscopic effect now, but doesn't explain how this happens."

Moffat told UPI he likes the concept nonetheless, and may have a contribution of his own to the new idea -- a mechanism that might explain the "how" of Blin's unusual approach. For Blin, the mechanism may have yet to be perfected but the concepts, two ideas Einstein disputed for a lifetime, are irrefutable.

"It seems clear that microscopic quantum fluctuations have to be taken seriously as they affect macroscopic observables," Blin said. These "fluctuations ... are shown to contribute to a cosmological constant."