Gravitational Waves: The latest discoveries and star crash news
Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time created by the interaction of massive objects in space, such as black holes and neutron stars. Their existence was first predicted by Albert Einstein in his 1916 paper describing his theory of general relativity. In 2015, scientists made the first detection of gravitational waves, observing ripples from the collision of two black holes. The discovery won astrophysicists Kip Thorne, Barry Baris and Rainer Weiss the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics. Subsequent observations have also detected gravitational waves from colliding neutron stars. Learn more about gravitational waves here.
Related Topics: Black Holes, Dark Matter, The Theory of Relativity in Space
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Latest about gravitational waves
Gravitational waves reveal 1st-of-its-kind merger between neutron star and mystery object
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
The mystery object, which falls right within the mass-gap range, sheds light on a long-sought, murky realm.
Dark matter could be gently wobbling space-time around us — and scientists may finally know how to detect it
By Andrey Feldman published
A new paper suggests we may finally be able to uncover the identity of dark matter using the same technology that detects ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves.
1st gravitational wave detector in space 'LISA' will hunt for ripples in spacetime
By Robert Lea published
The triple-spacecraft gravitational wave detector, named LISA, has received the go-ahead to become the first mission to detect spacetime ripples from space.
Spacetime ripples detected in 2023 continue to puzzle astronomers. Could they be from the dawn of the universe?
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
The recently detected gravitational waves are a muddled mix of various sources, new study finds.
Humans could use black holes as batteries, physics paper claims. Here's how.
By Jacklin Kwan published
Black holes are some of the most powerful objects in the universe — and humans could devise ways to harness that power as an energy source, a new theoretical study claims.
Gravitational waves rippling from black hole merger could help test general relativity
By Robert Lea published
"I never thought I would ever see such a measurement in my lifetime."
A nearby kilonova explosion could threaten all life on Earth. But don't worry, scientists say.
By Robert Lea published
Collisions between neutron stars are the most powerful and violent events in the known universe. Would life on Earth survive a kilonova event?
Distorted crystals use 'pseudogravity' to bend light like black holes do
By Stephanie Pappas published
Researchers have used a special crystal to bend the trajectory of light like a black hole would, a phenomenon known as 'pseudogravity.'
LIGO gravitational wave detector breaks 'quantum limit' to find deep universe black hole collisions
By Robert Lea published
The sensitivity of LIGO has squeezed the quantum limit, meaning it can now detect merging black holes and neutron stars on smaller scales and at greater distances than ever before.
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