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Science-Technology Title: Physicists detect gravitational wave forseen by Einstein A team of physicists who can now count themselves as astronomers announced Thursday that they had heard and recorded the sound of two black holes colliding 1 billion light-years away, a fleeting chirp that fulfilled the last prophecy of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. That faint rising tone, physicists say, is the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago. And it is a ringing (pun intended) confirmation of the nature of black holes, the bottomless gravitational pits from which not even light can escape, which were the most foreboding (and unwelcome) part of his theory. More generally, it means that scientists have finally tapped into the deepest register of physical reality, where the weirdest and wildest implications of Einstein’s universe become manifest. Conveyed by these gravitational waves, an energy 50 times greater than that of all the stars in the universe put together vibrated a pair of L-shaped antennas in Washington state and Louisiana known as LIGO on Sept. 14. If replicated by future experiments, that simple chirp, which rose to the note of middle C before abruptly stopping, seems destined to take its place among the great sound bites of science, ranking with Alexander Graham Bell’s “Mr. Watson — come here” and Sputnik’s first beeps from orbit. “We are all over the moon and back,” said Gabriela González of Louisiana State University, a spokeswoman for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, short for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. “Einstein would be very happy, I think.” More than 1,000 authors Members of the LIGO group, a worldwide team of scientists, along with scientists from a European team known as the Virgo Collaboration, published a report in Physical Review Letters on Thursday with more than 1,000 authors. “I think this will be one of the major breakthroughs in physics Poster Comment: I only wish I could understand more than maybe 10 percent of what they are talking about. It has to be fascinating stuff. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest #1. To: All, *Science and technology*, *Space News* (#0) PING! ISLAM MEANS SUBMISSION! Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012) American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them. #2. To: sneakypete (#0) I only wish I could understand more than maybe 10 percent of what they are talking about. It has to be fascinating stuff. It certainly is to me. The full article is interesting. You may think of gravity waves like waves in a pond. When it's completely calm, the water is completely flat. But when there is a disturbance by a rock being thrown in, waves are generated. Those waves stretch the *surface* of the water briefly as the waves make their way to shore. If you imagine the water having two floating objects in it right next to each other, close together but one closer to the shore than the other, then constantly measure the distance between them as the wave approaches, when the wave hits, the first object will be pulled slightly farther away from the other as it rides up the crest of the wave. 3D space is like the surface of the water. The black holes upon colliding was the rock thrown into the lake. The two floating objects was the L-shaped instrument in LA. The lasers measured the distance of the L's. When the gravity waves hit, the lasers detected the brief stretching of space that occurred. Maybe you already know that much. If you do, apologies. I'm kind of out of it today with the flu and felt like spouting... hehe.
#3. To: sneakypete (#0) A team of physicists who can now count themselves as astronomers announced Thursday that they had heard and recorded the sound of two black holes colliding 1 billion light-years away, a fleeting chirp that fulfilled the last prophecy of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. This is merely confirmation. For those who have followed the pursuit of evidence for Einstein's theories over the years, this was the nearly inevitable final confirmation. Several of his other predictions (and proposed proofs of his theories) had been demonstrated as accurate so everyone in physics had already assumed this final prediction would prove out as well since the earlier confirmations pointed so strongly to this result as well. Still, in real science you do have to demonstrate replicable evidence for a theory. It is probably no longer accurate to describe Einstein's work as the theory of relativity. It has become the science of relativity, no longer a mere theory.
#4. To: sneakypete (#0) A graviton wave?
#5. To: sneakypete (#0) I only wish I could understand more than maybe 10 percent of what they are talking about. It has to be fascinating stuff. Don't be sure the people who wrote the article understand it.
#6. To: Pinguinite (#2) Maybe you already know that much. If you do, apologies. No apologies needed. I appreciated your explanation,and can't be the only one. ISLAM MEANS SUBMISSION! Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012) American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them. #7. To: rlk (#5) Don't be sure the people who wrote the article understand it. LOL! Good point,Robert. ISLAM MEANS SUBMISSION! Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012) American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them. Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
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