"We have detected gravitational waves. We did it."

Absolutely incredible discovery. Will be excited to see how further experiments and analysis give us more information. Has to be one of the top discoveries of the past century.

florida2 said:

Absolutely incredible discovery. Will be excited to see how further experiments and analysis give us more information. Has to be one of the top discoveries of the past century.

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Call me gun-shy, but after the Bicep2 fiasco, I'll feel a whole lot better once it has actually passed the peer review process.

I will say however that it sounds a lot more plausible that LIGO discovered gravity waves than the Bicep2 claims based on what I've read thus far, and I'm very hopeful that it will be held up as a real discovery of 2016.

The mainstream desperately needs something to feel good about this year.

essentialsaltes said:

Scientists announce discovery of clear gravitational wave signal, ripples in spacetime first predicted by Albert Einstein

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I would like to duplicate their findings.....where should I start?

Thanks for sharing this discovery. It sounds like the Gravity wave detector will be a useful new instrument for studying the universe.

Michael said:

The interesting aspect of finally detecting gravity waves is that may ....

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So how do we know the wave is a gravity wave?

"What are gravitational waves?
Gravitational waves are disturbances in the fabric of spacetime. If you drag your hand through a still pool of water, you'll notice that waves follow in its path, and spread outward through the pool. According to Albert Einstein, the same thing happens when heavy objects move through spacetime."

http://www.popsci.com/whats-so-important-about-gravitational-waves

How does one know that what is being moved through is spacetime?

Loudmouth said:

I think they are assuming the velocity of the gravitational waves in order to find the location of the event....

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Explain how that works?

essentialsaltes said:

Scientists announce discovery of clear gravitational wave signal, ripples in spacetime first predicted by Albert Einstein

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Wow, this means if dance, I make gravity waves!

Michael said:

Call me gun-shy, but after the Bicep2 fiasco, I'll feel a whole lot better once it has actually passed the peer review process.

I will say however that it sounds a lot more plausible that LIGO discovered gravity waves than the Bicep2 claims based on what I've read thus far, and I'm very hopeful that it will be held up as a real discovery of 2016.

The mainstream desperately needs something to feel good about this year.

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Thank goodness we have you here Michael to always correct those silly professional scientists.

dad said:

So how do we know the wave is a gravity wave?

"What are gravitational waves?
Gravitational waves are disturbances in the fabric of spacetime. If you drag your hand through a still pool of water, you'll notice that waves follow in its path, and spread outward through the pool. According to Albert Einstein, the same thing happens when heavy objects move through spacetime."

http://www.popsci.com/whats-so-important-about-gravitational-waves

How does one know that what is being moved through is spacetime?

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The gravity wave detector goes 'ping'.

double post.

Larnievc said:

The gravity wave detector goes 'ping'.

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I lol'ed
Hilarious mental picture.

All this time gravity has been waving.
Mind you, to wave back we're going to have to make one heck of a mess.
Maybe wait until we can do it in a nearby galaxy.

essentialsaltes said:

Well, as a first step, build an ultra vacuum environment that's 5 miles long.

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So your suggesting the finding will go unchallenged and people must
just accept their findings on faith?

SkyWriting said:

So your suggesting the finding will go unchallenged and people must
just accept their findings on faith?

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You are free as always to not accept the scientific communities findings.

Progress will continue, with or without you.

Larnievc said:

The gravity wave detector goes 'ping'.

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Oh look! One showed up!

florida2 said:

Absolutely incredible discovery. Will be excited to see how further experiments and analysis give us more information. Has to be one of the top discoveries of the past century.

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Can we surf on one?

TheQuietRiot said:

You are free as always to not accept the scientific communities findings. Progress will continue, with or without you.

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I just need to test their interpretation of what they found.
I always test.

SkyWriting said:

So your suggesting the finding will go unchallenged and people must just accept their findings on faith?

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No, he's saying the opposite.

Obviously, to double check it, you're going to need to have access to the the required equipment to do so.

Did you expect something else?

If you wish to double check the existence of microscopic organisms... you're going to need a microscope as well.

Derp.

It just so happens that to be able to detect gravity waves with today's technology, you're going to need quite an impressive machine.

Blame reality, if you wish to complain about that.