It's Official: LIGO Scientists Make First-Ever Observation of Gravity Waves (economist.com)

A few days ago, we posted reports that a major finding -- the discovery of the long-predicted gravity waves -- was expected to be formally announced today, and reader universe520 is the first to note this coverage in the Economist : It is 1.3 billion years after two black holes merged and sent out gravitational waves. On Earth in September 2015, the faintest slice of those waves was caught. That slice, called GW150914 and announced to the world on February 11th, is the first gravitational wave to be detected directly by human scientists. It is a triumph that has been a century in the making, opening a new window onto the universe and giving researchers a means to peer at hitherto inaccessible happenings, perhaps as far back in time as the Big Bang. Reader DudeTheMath adds: NPR has a nice write-up of the newly-published results: "[R]esearchers say they have detected rumblings from that cataclysmic collision as ripples in the very fabric of space-time itself. The discovery comes a century after Albert Einstein first predicted such ripples should exist. ... The signal in the detector matches well with what's predicted by Einstein's original theory, according to [Saul] Teukolsky [of Cornell], who was briefed on the results." Update: 02/11 18:08 GMT by T : Worth reading: this letter, inspirational and informative, from MIT president L. Rafael Reif, about the discovery. (Hat tip to Brian Kulak.)

Comments

They did what?

[damn_registrars]

Oh, wait, that wasn't LEGO scientists.

Re:They did what?

[RivenAleem]

LEGO Scientists are attempting to detect Agony waves which occur when a foot collides with a brick in the dark. It turns out to be a very interesting problem. While most people have problems with a detector sensitive enough to find weak signals, the LEGO scientists are having the opposite.

Re:They did what?

[KGIII]

They're caltrops and you suffer 1d4 worth of damage as well as having a movement penalty.

buh? there's non-Human scientists?

[Thud457]

the first gravitational wave to be detected directly by human scientists

I had to go read the linked story to make sure it wasn't typical /. submitter reading failure.
Please, The Economist, do tell more, I think you buried the lead there.

sigh. At least it's not a Forbes link.

Re:So is the 5th or 6th fundamental force?

[LynnwoodRooster]

When are white holes going to be discovered? :-)

#BlackHolesMatter...

Re:So is the 5th or 6th fundamental force?

[fahrbot-bot]

When are white holes going to be discovered? :-)

Watch the Oscars.

Re:Cool!

[Motherfucking Shit]

I look forward to the day when I can tell Comcast "sorry, I'm switching to gravity."

Re: Cool!

[dothasmurfysmurf]

Or houses, or cars, or trees, or manhole covers, or other people... Lots of things don't fit in pockets ;-)

Re: Cool!

[lister king of smeg]

Or houses, or cars, or trees, or manhole covers, or other people... Lots of things don't fit in pockets ;-)

does he actually believe his own pockets exist as he would not be able to put them in side themselves.