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.

4 Dangerous Effects Of Overthinking (animated)

Why the Dinosaurs’ Extinction is an Ongoing Puzzle | Nat Geo Explores

View All

He Spent 40 Years Alone in the Woods, and Now Scientists Love Him | Short Film Showcase

Have you ever wondered if you watched the snow long enough what stories it might tell? There is someone who has done it; his name is Billy Barr. I spell it small b i l l y small b a r r. Some people call him the Snow Guardian. He lives in a cabin out in t…

Elliot Choy asks Ray Dalio about his early goals

Was was that first step for you? Do you recall kind of some of your early goals? Was it simply to find some level of success, some level of security? Do you remember what those first steps were for you? Well, it was, um, it was more a passion, you know? …

The Biggest Investing Opportunity of Your Life

Over the past 10 to 15 years, it’s fair to say that when it comes to financial markets, we’ve had it fairly easy. In the past 10 years, the earnings of the S&P 500 have roughly doubled, and the price has tripled. The highest federal funds rate we’ve s…

I Asked Bill Gates What's The Next Crisis?

Derek: So how did it feel to make this prediction and then have the world essentially not listen and not prepare? Bill Gates: Well, there’s no good feeling that comes on something like this saying, “I told you so.” If anything kills over 10 million peopl…

The 6 Money Mistakes That Keep You Poor

What’s up guys, it’s Graham here. So here’s the deal: it was recently found that Millennials were more stressed about money than any other generation. They also have more financial regret than any other generation, and over half are said to be reduced to …

These Are the Mental Health Pioneers | Explorer

Do you think the United States is doing enough for the treatment of mental illness? We’re doing a good job, but we really should be doing much better. There are methods of treating we know work, but which aren’t reaching those who really need it. I think…

Discovering Gravitational Waves | StarTalk

More Articles