LIGO & Gravitational Waves
Once before, a British team announced they had detected gravitational waves. Unfortunately, they were forced to withdraw citing some previously unknown errors. However, on February 11 the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has announced they have detected these waves as suggested by Einstein! This has several important consequences. It completely opens up a new observational tool for Astronomers and Physics; a new way to see the universe. Up until this point, scientists were only able to view the universe via telescopes designed to observe electromagnetic spectra, (Light, Radio, X-Ray, etc.). The other fascinating thing is that it is direct confirmation that matter and energy are interchangeable, but matter (under extreme conditions) can be converted into space-time distortions. This was observed via mass measurements of the colliding black holes. Read the full story in Nature HERE.