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Gravity Wave Detector Ready For Business

Posted by timothy on from the very-expensive-ripples dept.

Arthur Embleton writes "The BBC has an article about a Gravity Wave Detector. There are two L shaped set-ups. One in Washington, the other in Louisiana. They've got a Laser pointing at a mirror 4km away, watching for the reflection and if it is distorted then it shows that there has been a gravitational pulse, possibly by two Black Holes colliding. The detectors are apparently so accurate they can measure to one-thousandth of the width of a proton! How did they test that it works?"

1 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Re:so many things about it by codeButcher · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    the sensitivity is on the order of measuring saturn moving toward the sun by the distance of the diameter of a proton

    With that sort of sensitivity, just imagine what CowboyNeal getting up and going to the fridge might do to it...

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