Einstein's gravitational waves detected in scientific milestone
Science
Einstein’s gravitational waves detected in scientific milestone
In a landmark discovery for physics and astronomy, scientists said Thursday they have glimpsed the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space-time that Albert Einstein predicted a century ago. Astronomers hailed the finding as an achievement of historic proportions, one that opens the door to a new way of observing the cosmos and the violent collisions that are constantly shaping it. For them, it’s like turning a silent movie into a talkie, because these waves are the soundtrack of the universe.
Until this moment, we had our eyes on the sky and we couldn’t hear the music. The skies will never be the same.
Columbia University astrophysicist Szabolcs Marka, a member of the discovery team
An all-star international team of astrophysicists used a newly upgraded and excruciatingly sensitive $1.1 billion set of twin instruments known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, to detect a gravitational wave generated by the collision of two black holes light years from Earth. To make sense of the raw data, the scientists converted the wave into sound. Some physicists said the finding is as big a deal as the 2012 discovery of the subatomic Higgs boson, sometimes called the “God particle.” Some said this is bigger.
It’s really comparable only to Galileo taking up the telescope and looking at the planets.
Penn State physics theorist Abhay Ashtekar
