Beautifully dying stars and the scale of the Universe

What can dying stars tell us about the size and age of the Universe?

Possibly a lot, if a new technique developed by astronomers can be used routinely. It looks in other galaxies for stars like the Sun but which are at the ends of their lives, and from that determine how far away they are. This method has been used before, but what’s new here is a refinement that allows it to more accurately measure their brightness, and also go deeper. Much deeper, looking at galaxies that are over 120 million...