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Double Pulsar Discovered

Posted by michael on from the double-your-pleasure dept.

jabberjaw writes "Nature is reporting that a set of two pulsars could be emitting gravitational waves. Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his general theory of relativity, but a gravitational wave has yet to be detected. Find out more about gravitational waves and pulsars at Eric Weisstein's World of Physics."

4 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. Speed of Gravity by fejikso · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Does someone know if these waves travel at the speed of light? Of course, as predicted by the theory.

    I suppose so... otherwise we could eventually devise faster-than-light communications, and I don't think the Universe is that nice :)

    1. Re:Speed of Gravity by DigiShaman · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This was discussed in a NOVA special about String Theory in The Elegant Universe. You can watch all three hours of the program online for free. I think the part about the speed of gravity (as to if it's effect are instant or at the speed of light) are in the first hour of the program. Check it out here

      http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.htm l

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  2. Nobel prize for pulsar discovery by etymxris · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Anybody know why Jocelyn Bell received no credit for actually discovering pulsars, yet her thesis advisor, who actually seemed to do nothing, did?

  3. Maybe Not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Article 1, Article 2.

    Some scientists that have inspected the calculations believe the experiment is flawed and that they instead measured the speed of light itself (ie: they probably measured the speed of the light they were using to make their observations with, not the speed of the Jupiter distortion).

    Correct answer: The speed of gravity is not (yet) a scientifically proved and universally accepted fact. Saying anything else is bad science.