Number 228 (Story #3), May 31, 1995 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein THE COSMIC INFRARED BACKGROUND , the supposed radiant heat from the first stars in the universe, is hard to detect since so many foreground objects, such as the Milky Way and our solar system, throw off heat of their own. The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), so proficient in mapping the microwave background, has failed so far to discern an infrared background. Discussing their measurements at a workshop in April, COBE researchers have, however, put new upper limits on the magnitude of an infrared background which serve to constrain cosmological models, at least those that called for early massive black holes or quasars. In order for COBE to say anything intelligible about cosmological infrared, it must understand (and subtract) the foreground infrared. This exercise has led to new insights about our galaxy (the central bulge of stars seems more football-shaped than spherical) and the near-Earth environment (COBE verified the existence of a circumstellar dust ring; see Update 222). (Science, 19 May 1995.)