Discovering Gravitational Waves | StarTalk

2m read

·Nov 11, 2024

[Music]

30 million years ago, in a distant galaxy, 30 million light years away, two black holes collided. Each black hole is itself a significant disturbance in the fabric of space and time. When they collide, it creates an even greater ripple that gets sent out at the speed of light.

A ripple through the fabric of space and time. In the world of technology, a person is born called Albert Einstein, who thinks about the fabric of space and time. He comes up with the general theory of relativity, predicting the fact that such a thing as ripples through the fabric of space and time exists. We would later show that two black holes would be the best example of a ripple through the fabric of space and time.

Meanwhile, this ripple continues to move. Einstein predicts we should be able to detect one of these. We don't have the technology yet; that would take another 80 to 90 years just to create the apparatus that could detect it. We build the apparatus.

This holds a laser interferometric gravity wave Observatory, LIGO for short. We turn on the switch. Within days of turning on the switch, that wave washes across the Earth, and we detect it. We detected something that was cast into motion before we were human.

Einstein not only predicted the existence of gravity waves; he came up with the general theory of relativity. He also laid the foundation for the invention of the laser, and it is lasers that were used to detect the gravity waves. That's badass!

That's [Music] Einstein.

Warren Buffett: How to Invest Tiny Sums of Money

Top 3 Online Businesses to Start in 2025 (Even if You’re Broke)

View All

Opening a bank account | Banking | Financial Literacy | Khan Academy

So let’s think about what’s involved when you decide to open up a bank account. Well, the first step is where you want to open it and what type of account you want to open. So your choice of bank might depend on things like the interest that they might g…

15 Gifts That Go Up in Value Over Time (Gift Ideas for Rich People)

Rich people focus on the inner value of a gift, not necessarily on the price tag. But any Master Gift Giver knows that they’ll be better off if you give them an asset instead of a liability. The gifts you give build relationships, so this season be though…

The Last Days of the Romanovs | National Geographic

I think it’s a big tragedy, big tragedy for the country and for the world. For 300 years, the Romanovs ruled Russia as czars—loved, feared, revered, respected. But all too often, those who fly highest fall furthest. World War One brought Russia to revolut…

15 Ways to Get Out of Your Slump

Damn the big slump. The one where two full nights of sleep and takeout on TV on the couch don’t help you. It’s been weeks. You still feel like crap. This is the worst time to feel that way. You need to be on your game. So what do you do? Slumps are a par…

Sitting Down with the MEK | Uncensored with Michael Ware

MICHAEL WARE: For the people who don’t know, what’s the goal of your movement? MOHAMMAD: The goal of– [laughing] [all laughing] It’s obvious that the goal of our movement is to overthrow the regime and bring about a democratic, pluralistic, secular, uh– …

Why your $1 is REALLY worth $5 (Real Estate Investing Mind Trick)

This is also why when you’re investing in real estate, how you should look at every one dollar is actually being worth five dollars. Because this is how much it’s actually truly worth. So this is something I catch myself doing all the time and I thought I…

Discovering Gravitational Waves | StarTalk

More Articles