Collaborate Disseminate
Gravitational wave facilities measure distortions in the fabric of spacetime down to 10 quadrillionths the width of a hair – small enough to hear interference from particles popping in and out of existence. Now the LIGO facility has pushed beyond this … Continue reading LIGO squeezes light to surpass quantum limit measuring spacetime ripples
The very fabric of spacetime is constantly warping, on unimaginably tiny scales, as ripples from past cataclysms wash over us. Astrophysicists have now detected a background sea of gravitational waves, using a galaxy-scale detector made up of dead star… Continue reading Galactic-scale detector picks up background distortions in spacetime
Until now, we’ve only detected gravitational waves originating in binary systems, from the merger of black holes or neutron stars. But researchers from Northwestern University have potentially discovered a new non-binary source of gravitational waves: … Continue reading Dying star’s ‘cocoon’ a potential new source of gravitational waves
Of the four fundamental forces of physics, gravity is the one we’re most familiar with in everyday life, but it’s also the only one that can’t currently be explained by quantum physics. Now scientists have outlined a plan to look for signs of quantum g… Continue reading “Quantum gravity” clues could be hiding in the songs of black holes
The new BlackGEM telescopic array at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) La Silla Observatory in Chile has officially begun scanning the southern skies, searching for the sources of gravitational waves.Continue ReadingCategory: Space, ScienceTa… Continue reading New trio of telescopes scans the southern sky for gravitational waves
Researchers from University College London and the University of Potsdam, Germany have studied two most massive touching stars in a neighboring galaxy that will eventually turn into black holes and collide, sending ripples through space and time.Contin… Continue reading Mutual destruction: Binary stars, black holes, and ripples in space-time
In Star Trek, dilithium crystals — whatever those are — are critical to the operation of a starship’s warp drives. But a Texas professor thinks he can make a baby …read more Continue reading Developing Warp Drive Might Take Antifreeze
A team of European researchers has suggested that the Moon’s orbit could be used as a gigantic detector for gravitational waves – ripples in the very fabric of spacetime itself. These waves, much smaller than those that existing detectors can pick up, … Continue reading Firing lasers at the Moon to detect early-universe gravitational waves
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a huge installation measured in kilometers that is listening for wrinkles in space-time. Pulling this off is a true story of hardware and …read more Continue reading Keynote Video: Dr. Keith Thorne Explains the Extreme Engineering of the LIGO Hardware
Dark matter is one of the most puzzling mysteries of science, with a huge range of suspects being investigated. In a new study, astronomers have searched for clouds of hypothetical, ultralight particles that could congregate around black holes, and mak… Continue reading Gravitational waves could reveal dark matter clouds around black holes