A new gravitational-wave detection has excited astronomers
It could reveal giant black holes—or the beginnings of the universe
The 2017 Nobel prize for physics was given for the confirmation of a prediction made 101 years earlier. In 1916 Albert Einstein, whose theories of special and general relativity revolutionised scientists’ understanding of physics at the scale of stars and galaxies, predicted that, in certain circumstances, the fabric of the universe itself should wobble and flex.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Ripples in the sky”
From the July 1st 2023 edition
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