In 1962, she developed an observational test on newborns, which she reported in 1964.

Ever more precise solar system tests confirmed the theory's predictive power, and relativistic cosmology, too, became amenable to direct observational tests.

While it was possible that the local "matter-dominated" cell was simply larger than the observable universe, this proposition did not lend itself to observational tests.

The new findings, he said, mean that the theory and the models had passed an important observational test.

So far, general relativity has passed all observational tests.

Theories that fail to stand up to observational and experimental tests must be eliminated and replaced by further speculative conjectures.

As such, though predictions of inflation have been consistent with the results of observational tests, there are many open questions about the theory.

To be taken seriously, the new suggestion would have to undergo observational tests.

Evaluation of the hypothesis, inferring from observational or experimental tests of its deduced consequences.

Until better observational tests turn up, the furious bake-off whose prize is unifying physics will remain a theoretical one.