OMG they found gravity waves

[Dr Frook]

now I can sleep easy at night.

Tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time known as gravitational waves first proposed by Albert Einstein 100 years ago have been directly observed for the first time, an international team of scientists has announced.

Key points:
•Scientists detect gravitational waves caused by two black holes merging 1.3 billion years ago
•Theory first predicted by Einstein in 1915
•Researchers say discovery will deepen understanding of the cosmos

After months of speculation, the scientists from the Advanced LIGO project confirmed they had detected gravitational waves caused by two black holes merging about 1.3 billion years ago.

LIGO executive director David Reitze confirmed the news at a press conference.

"We have detected gravitational waves, we did it," he said.

"It took us months of careful checking, rechecking, analysis. This is not just about the detection of gravitational waves ... what's really exciting is what comes next.

"I think we're opening a window on the universe."

"Like Galileo first pointing his telescope upward, this new view of the sky will deepen our understanding of the cosmos, and lead to unexpected discoveries," France Cordova, director of the US National Science Foundation, which funded the work, said.

What are gravitational waves?

Scientists have found direct evidence of gravitational waves - a feat that Albert Einstein never thought we would manage. But what are they and what does their discovery mean?

The team's findings have been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time caused by the movement of objects with large amounts of gravity.

In 1915, Einstein predicted that gravitational waves would be produced in extremely violent events such as collisions between black holes or neutron stars. But they had never been directly observed until now.

LIGO — which stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory — uses a laser split into two separate beams which are sent down a pair of 4-kilometre-long perpendicular pipes.

The beams are reflected back by mirrors and cancel each other out unless a gravitational wave causes the detector to contract and stretch, putting the beams out of sync.

On September 14 last year, scientists working at LIGO observatories 3000 kilometres apart in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford Washington simultaneously detected vibrations from two rapidly spinning black holes — one about 29 times the mass of the Sun and the other about 36 times the Sun's mass — as they spiralled together and merged into a single black hole.

The black holes gave out a burst of gravitational waves that travelled through the universe at the speed of light, causing everything in their path to vibrate back and forth.

[Dr Frook]

I remember in highschool they were trying to find them in Australia... something similar to wot they just achieved now... but obviously they failed. Very clear recollections of discussing it with peeps in my physics class...

[BluesDotEXE]

It goes to show the universe is full of mysteries waiting to have light shined on them.

[Lamb]

So.. I guess it's time for me to fulfill my destiny and create a hyper-drive?
I must harness the power of the universe and create a device that artificially produces immense gravity at a controlled stasis in which it is possible to stretch the fabric of space to where it is possible to travel faster than light by compressing the space that we're traveling to?
Sounds farfetched.

[Dr Frook]

So.. I guess it's time for me to fulfill my destiny and create a hyper-drive?
I must harness the power of the universe and create a device that artificially produces immense gravity at a controlled stasis in which it is possible to stretch the fabric of space to where it is possible to travel faster than light by compressing the space that we're traveling to?
Sounds farfetched.

nope not at all