Gravitational waves from black holes detected

[Fallenangel]

Gravitational waves from black holes detected - BBC

Scientists are claiming a stunning discovery in their quest to fully understand gravity.
They have observed the warping of space-time generated by the collision of two black holes more than a billion light-years from Earth. The international team says the first detection of these gravitational waves will usher in a new era for astronomy. It is the culmination of decades of searching and could ultimately offer a window on the Big Bang.

The research, by the Ligo Collaboration, has been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters. The collaboration operates a number of labs around the world that fire lasers through long tunnels, trying to sense ripples in the fabric of space-time. Expected signals are extremely subtle, and disturb the machines, known as interferometers, by just fractions of the width of an atom.But the black hole merger was picked up by two widely separated LIGO facilities in the US.

"We have detected gravitational waves," David Reitze, executive director of the Ligo project, told journalists at a news conference in Washington DC.
"It's the first time the Universe has spoken to us through gravitational waves. Up until now, we've been deaf."




Fallen.

 

[MrT]

This is a really incredible discovery - although I would amend your title to reflect the fact that we don't know the source of the gravitational waves (orbiting black holes are one potential source). I also watched this video and it does a great job of explaining the importance of this discovery.



Edit: Actually, after reviewing the BBC article, it does appear as though the scientists are claiming that the source of the gravitational waves are from a pair of colliding black holes more than a billion light years from Earth.

So. ****ing. Cool.

 

[FieldTheorist]

Yeah, from numerical relativity you can infer the existence of in-spiraling black holes. I lot of hard work was involved from scientists to get to today. It really is one of the greatest discoveries so far in this decade in terms of fundamental physics. This beats the Higgs, actually, because the concrete discovery of GW (N.B. The Hulse-Taylor pulsar provided extremely definitive indirect evidence of GW) opens many new areas of scientific discovery. I agree with the experimentalist on the stage, I hope that this opens the door to the US refunding our component of LISA, so eLISA can go back to LISA, and it opens the path to new avenues of experiment in fields of relativity, cosmology, and astrophysics.

 

[the_recruit]

The shock would have released more energy than the light from all the stars in the universe for that brief instant.

https://www.theguardian.com/science...scovery-hailed-as-breakthrough-of-the-century

 

[zyzygy]

Does this mean that gravitons do not exist?

 

[Skeptic Bob]

And Einstein is proven right...again.

 

[the_recruit]

Does this mean that gravitons do not exist?

Nah, keep in mind the duality between photons and electromagnetic waves for instance.

 

[akrunner88]

I'm ignorant to this but what is the significance from a scientific standpoint and what does it tell us about our universe? Are any new doors or theories opened up?

 

[Heinrich]

I'm ignorant to this but what is the significance from a scientific standpoint and what does it tell us about our universe? Are any new doors or theories opened up?

You are not the only one. No one has a clue what these scientists are talking about only themselves. It is a type of universe they inhabit all by themselves.

 

[Lutherf]

I'm ignorant to this but what is the significance from a scientific standpoint and what does it tell us about our universe? Are any new doors or theories opened up?

I'm in the same boat as you are but my understanding is that the ability to detect these waves is kind of like developing a sixth sense. I think it means that those who explore such things now have a whole new way to interpret data.

 

[RetiredUSN]

You are not the only one. No one has a clue what these scientists are talking about only themselves. It is a type of universe they inhabit all by themselves.

And thank god we have those people around to explain it to the rest of us. It makes my head hurt thinking about the math/physics.

 

[Heinrich]

And thank god we have those people around to explain it to the rest of us. It makes my head hurt thinking about the math/physics.

You cannot seriously believe there was a Big Bang and that the entire universe came from something the size of a grape seed? Please.

 

[RetiredUSN]

You cannot seriously believe there was a Big Bang and that the entire universe came from something the size of a grape seed? Please.

Why not?

 

[akrunner88]

You cannot seriously believe there was a Big Bang and that the entire universe came from something the size of a grape seed? Please.

Our inability to explain the science (yet) doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

That's why we have scientists. To discover and explain the once unexplained. I'm not promoting nor denying the existence of a Creator, but if the science points toward the Big Bang, it's quite arrogant to presume that the Creator couldn't have used the Big Bang as a tool to create the known universe. Not everything has to "poof" into existence.

 

[calamity]

You cannot seriously believe there was a Big Bang and that the entire universe came from something the size of a grape seed? Please.

Much, much smaller than a grape seed. A point smaller than an atom actually. All the energy in the entire universe bundled up in an area so small you couldn't see it even if you tried.

 

[calamity]

Our inability to explain the science (yet) doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

That's why we have scientists. To discover and explain the once unexplained. I'm not promoting nor denying the existence of a Creator, but if the science points toward the Big Bang, it's quite arrogant to presume that the Creator couldn't have used the Big Bang as a tool to create the known universe. Not everything has to "poof" into existence.

It's possible...either way. Whatever it was, it went whoosh! And expanded trillions upon trillions of times in size in about an instant.

 

[Heinrich]

Why not?

It's too incredible.

 

[Deuce]

I'm ignorant to this but what is the significance from a scientific standpoint and what does it tell us about our universe? Are any new doors or theories opened up?

It's the last big missing piece from the Theory of Relativity. As for direct applications right now... not much. But then again, when we discovered X-rays nobody knew of an immediate use for those either!

 

[Deuce]

You cannot seriously believe there was a Big Bang and that the entire universe came from something the size of a grape seed? Please.

A strange statement from a guy who outright admits to not understanding the science. How are you so sure?

 

[Heinrich]

A strange statement from a guy who outright admits to not understanding the science. How are you so sure?

I have some common sense.

 

[Deuce]

I have some common sense.

Common sense got us things like a flat earth at the center of the universe, leeches as medical treatments, and the idea that a heavier-than-air machine could never fly.

People declaring "common sense" over something they by their own admission don't understand is the height of arrogance. I don't understand how ones and zeroes become a computer operating system, common sense says you can't turn ones and zeroes into colors and sounds, therefore computers aren't possible.

Keep your common sense. I'll stick to the evidence. If you want to disprove the Big Bang Theory, you're going to need to understand it first.

 

[calamity]

Common sense got us things like a flat earth at the center of the universe, leeches as medical treatments, and the idea that a heavier-than-air machine could never fly.

People declaring "common sense" over something they by their own admission don't understand is the height of arrogance. I don't understand how ones and zeroes become a computer operating system, common sense says you can't turn ones and zeroes into colors and sounds, therefore computers aren't possible.

Keep your common sense. I'll stick to the evidence.

Common sense has it's down side when it comes to particle physics. Yeah. The poster above would be better off saying, "Wow!" rather than trying to say common sense suggests that what the experts found is wrong. smh

 

[Rogue Valley]

With advances in technology, astronomy went beyond visible light to include star survey's in various EMR bands. Ergo, much more information is available. The LIGO detection provides science with yet another tool to study the universe, especially high-energy events such as black hole merging, supernova explosions, and neutron star measurements. Gravity wave science is a new discipline that will yield greater results as the technology/knowledge-base increases over time.

 

[Nilly]

Gravitational waves from black holes detected - BBC

Scientists are claiming a stunning discovery in their quest to fully understand gravity.
They have observed the warping of space-time generated by the collision of two black holes more than a billion light-years from Earth. The international team says the first detection of these gravitational waves will usher in a new era for astronomy. It is the culmination of decades of searching and could ultimately offer a window on the Big Bang.

The research, by the Ligo Collaboration, has been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters. The collaboration operates a number of labs around the world that fire lasers through long tunnels, trying to sense ripples in the fabric of space-time. Expected signals are extremely subtle, and disturb the machines, known as interferometers, by just fractions of the width of an atom.But the black hole merger was picked up by two widely separated LIGO facilities in the US.

"We have detected gravitational waves," David Reitze, executive director of the Ligo project, told journalists at a news conference in Washington DC.
"It's the first time the Universe has spoken to us through gravitational waves. Up until now, we've been deaf."




Fallen.

I really don't think the importance of this discovery can be overstated. Up to now, we've always used light (EM spectrum, from radio waves to visible light to gamma rays) to view the universe. This opens up a whole new way in which we can see what is out there. As someone said earlier, it is literally a new sense with which we can 'see' with.

In terms of practical application, this will primarily be used in astronomy for the foreseeable future (read: our lifetimes), given that our equipment is only sensitive to ginormous masses in the sky. When looking into the future though, the possibilities are endless. As we refine our instruments, we'll be able to detect smaller and smaller peturbations, which will give us the ability to 'see' things without relying on photons.

Personally I'd rank this as the most important discovery since we split the atom.

 

[ecofarm]

You are not the only one. No one has a clue what these scientists are talking about only themselves. It is a type of universe they inhabit all by themselves.

Will you be taking signatures on this Declaration of Ignorance?