Scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) have found evidence that there are two black holes (where they are, we don't know yet) whose gravitational forces are pulling them closer to each other. They discovered this by placing two sets of perpendicular tunnels thousands of miles apart that will independently detect when a gravitational wave (caused by a black hole) passes through the Earth. The waves inversely effect the space at the end of the tunnels. The space at one end will be "stretched" and consequently "squished" along the other side. The alterations of space cause the tunnels to actually change length. The detections help reveal the location of the black holes. These scientists predict that if they collided, it could create ripples in space-time.
The first person to theorize gravitational waves was Albert Einstein around the time of WWII. He was a Jew and fled to America when Hitler began his rise to power. Many other brilliant scientists, inventors, artists, writers, etc., fled from Europe to the US- this was known as a "brain drain." His contributions to the scientific world are insurmountable and have allowed succeeding generations to make more game-changing discoveries about the universe we live in.
When I first heard the news, the first thing that came to my mind was "rip in the spacetime continuum" from one of a possible million science fiction movies. Pretty dope that it has become somewhat of a reality post-black hole collision.
ReplyDelete-Jack Higgins period 6