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12-02-2016, 02:24 PM
Scientists Discover Ripples In Space And Time
US scientists have announced the discovery of ripples in space and time known as gravitational waves, in a breakthrough that could revolutionise astronomy.
Their existence was first predicted by Albert Einstein in his Theory of Relativity a century ago but has never been proven - until now.
To loud applause, researchers from the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) unveiled their findings in Washington DC.
Laser physicist Professor David Reitze, from the University of Florida, told the National Press Club: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravity waves. We did it.”
At the news conference, they played what they called a “chirp” - the signal they heard last 14 September, believed to have come from the distant crash of two black holes.
It was a moment that might have surprised even Einstein, who also theorised that scientists would never be able to hear such gravitational waves.
A British member of the international team said it was “the biggest scientific breakthrough of the century”.
Professor James Hough, from the University of Glasgow, said the find was more important than the missing Higgs boson, the so-called “God particle”.
Other scientists compared Thursday’s announcement to the moment Galileo took up a telescope to look at the planets.
The waves could help scientists learn more about what happened immediately after the Big Bang and how the universe expanded.
Gravitational waves, sometimes called the soundtrack of the universe, are elusive ripples in the fabric of space and time created by every massive object in the universe.
Catastrophic events, such as a collision between two black holes, can create waves that spread out across the universe.
A passing wave essentially stretches space in one direction and causes it to shrink in another.
“It’s one thing to know soundwaves exist, but it’s another to actually hear Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony,” said Marc Kamionkowsi, a physicist at Johns Hopkins University, who wasn’t part of the discovery team.
Scientists hope that by detecting the waves, it may be possible to see parts of the universe that have so far remained hidden.
It may also allow them to unravel the mysteries of dark matter, the invisible material that makes up around 80% of the universe.
LIGO researchers have been using a $1.1bn device called a laser interferometer to detect the space-time ripples.
They say it is like a microphone that converts them into electrical signals.
Three such interferometers have been built for LlGO - two near Richland, Washington state, and the other near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
At least two widely separated detectors, operated in unison, are needed to rule out false signals and confirm that a gravitational wave has passed through the earth.
US scientists have announced the discovery of ripples in space and time known as gravitational waves, in a breakthrough that could revolutionise astronomy.
Their existence was first predicted by Albert Einstein in his Theory of Relativity a century ago but has never been proven - until now.
To loud applause, researchers from the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) unveiled their findings in Washington DC.
Laser physicist Professor David Reitze, from the University of Florida, told the National Press Club: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravity waves. We did it.”
At the news conference, they played what they called a “chirp” - the signal they heard last 14 September, believed to have come from the distant crash of two black holes.
It was a moment that might have surprised even Einstein, who also theorised that scientists would never be able to hear such gravitational waves.
A British member of the international team said it was “the biggest scientific breakthrough of the century”.
Professor James Hough, from the University of Glasgow, said the find was more important than the missing Higgs boson, the so-called “God particle”.
Other scientists compared Thursday’s announcement to the moment Galileo took up a telescope to look at the planets.
The waves could help scientists learn more about what happened immediately after the Big Bang and how the universe expanded.
Gravitational waves, sometimes called the soundtrack of the universe, are elusive ripples in the fabric of space and time created by every massive object in the universe.
Catastrophic events, such as a collision between two black holes, can create waves that spread out across the universe.
A passing wave essentially stretches space in one direction and causes it to shrink in another.
“It’s one thing to know soundwaves exist, but it’s another to actually hear Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony,” said Marc Kamionkowsi, a physicist at Johns Hopkins University, who wasn’t part of the discovery team.
Scientists hope that by detecting the waves, it may be possible to see parts of the universe that have so far remained hidden.
It may also allow them to unravel the mysteries of dark matter, the invisible material that makes up around 80% of the universe.
LIGO researchers have been using a $1.1bn device called a laser interferometer to detect the space-time ripples.
They say it is like a microphone that converts them into electrical signals.
Three such interferometers have been built for LlGO - two near Richland, Washington state, and the other near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
At least two widely separated detectors, operated in unison, are needed to rule out false signals and confirm that a gravitational wave has passed through the earth.
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