What Are Gravitational Waves And Why Do They Matter?
NASA/C. Henze Simulation of Gravitational Waves NASA researchers simulated the gravitational waves that would be produced when two black holes merged. Physicists have been buzzing (or rather, tweeting) about the possibility that the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) experiment finally discovered gravitational waves. LIGO has been searching for these cosmic ripples for over a decade. Last September, it upgraded to Advanced-LIGO, a more sensitive system that's also better at filtering out noise. Advanced-LIGO has a much stronger chance of collecting concrete evidence of gravitational waves—if it hasn't already. Scientists may be excited, but talk of gravitational waves leaves most people scratching their heads. What are these cosmic vibrations, and why are they making waves in the scientific community? What are gravitational waves? Gravitational waves are disturbances in the...