Some of the most renowned theoretical astrophysicists attended COSMO-99 (International Workshop on Particle Physics and the Early Universe) that took place at the ICTP between 27 September and 2 October. Two of the workshop's most prominent 'stars' were Andrei Linde, a Russian-educated cosmologist, who is now professor of physics at Stanford University (USA), and Italian-born Gabriele Veneziano, who is a researcher at CERN in Geneva (Switzerland). Linde lectured on his theory of "inflation," while Veneziano lectured on applications of string theories to cosmology. About 160 scientists participated in the Trieste gathering. Previous COSMO workshops took place in Ambleside, Lake District, United Kingdom, in 1997, and Asilomar, California, USA, in 1998.