bIGgest discovery of the century

fleet_admiral · 11-02-2016 08:25PM

Who What Where When Why?

Dughorm · 11-02-2016 08:36PM

Cool. So what are they going to do now?

thee glitz · 11-02-2016 08:45PM

Turok makes a philosophical point that there is something very mysterious about the Universe, and it is that we can understand it. It is astounding that we are sitting here today discussing a cataclysmic event that took place 1.3 billion years ago.

It really is. A highly impressive achievement for Einstein confirmed, and they're all wettin themselves with the thoughts of research funding, but what does it mean for the man on the street...

c montgomery · 11-02-2016 08:48PM

Mint Aero wrote: »

My penis

Small world

kneemos · 11-02-2016 09:15PM

thee glitz wrote: »

It really is. A highly impressive achievement for Einstein confirmed, and they're all wettin themselves with the thoughts of research funding, but what does it mean for the man on the street...

Bit abstract I'd say.
The Dyson hand dryer,now there's a discovery.

PC Lackey · 11-02-2016 09:48PM

steddyeddy wrote: »

100 years after Einstein's theory of general relativity predicted gravitational waves scientists at LIGO detected the elusive waves. This is the biggest discovery of the century and another reason why Einstein was great. It's a great time to be a scientist.

Link from the Guardian as the discovery is announced live!

yet doesnt help me get laid.

disregard.

Roadtoad · 11-02-2016 09:52PM

The electric kettle with the auto-off switch. That was big.

Calibos · 11-02-2016 09:58PM

kneemos wrote: »

Bit abstract I'd say.
The Dyson hand dryer,now there's a discovery.

You're mixing this one up with the possible Dysons Sphere discovery a few weeks ago.

That Vacuum cleaner that rolls around corners on a ball is bloody genius though I'll grant you!

ToddyDoody · 11-02-2016 09:59PM

I'm going to say morketing. Not the greatest invention but certainly the biggest it would seem to me.

StewartGriffin · 11-02-2016 10:04PM

kneemos wrote: »

Hardly a big discovery if Einstein was on about it a hundred years ago.

That's what I thought too. This talk that it will change the way we view the Universe, I think it's been factored in to the way we view the Universe for a long time. This is a confirmation of what was expected. If they found the waves were not there, that would change the way we view the Universe.

JohnnyChimpo · 11-02-2016 10:08PM

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Being able to see the universe in an earlier state is of little interest really.

This mindset is baffling and saddening to me

StewartGriffin · 11-02-2016 10:16PM

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Being able to see the universe in an earlier state is of little interest really.

That's what we see when we look into the sky.

prinzeugen · 11-02-2016 10:30PM

StewartGriffin wrote: »

That's what we see when we look into the sky.

Know they know they exist can they shut down that yoke in France/Switzerland.

I don't want my bits blasted over the galaxy.

diomed · 11-02-2016 10:33PM

thee glitz wrote: »

they're all wettin themselves with the thoughts of research funding

This was what I thought when the discovery was announced, but I didn't know the scientific term.

Eugene Norman · 11-02-2016 10:33PM

Right. An experimental proof of a 100 year old theory nobody doubted is a nice to have but not revolutionary. Not a discovery really. More a verification.

And of course these waves exist. It's that or Gravity is magic.

zl1whqvjs75cdy · 11-02-2016 10:34PM

Sequencing the human genome. Technology that is used today for a whole heap of life changing medicines.

Eugene Norman · 11-02-2016 10:36PM

StewartGriffin wrote: »

That's what I thought too. This talk that it will change the way we view the Universe, I think it's been factored in to the way we view the Universe for a long time. This is a confirmation of what was expected. If they found the waves were not there, that would change the way we view the Universe.

Oh that bugged me too. There is no way this will change the way we view the universe since it's a confirmation of a theory nobody thought was false anyway. This science as marketing bugs after a while.

titan18 · 11-02-2016 10:46PM

It'll mean very little for a long while, but once we learn what we can do with it, it opens up huge possibilities. Comparison was made to discovery of something like radio waves or electromagnetism. At the time it meant very little in everyday life, huge in the science community but no real practical benefit for everyday society until countless years have passed.

This discovery could be a huge moment for us in relation to space and our understanding of the universe, in a short term. Long term, no one knows yet what the applications could be.

NIMAN · 11-02-2016 10:48PM

When I heard it, my response was M'eh.

Eugene Norman · 11-02-2016 11:14PM

titan18 wrote: »

It'll mean very little for a long while, but once we learn what we can do with it, it opens up huge possibilities. Comparison was made to discovery of something like radio waves or electromagnetism. At the time it meant very little in everyday life, huge in the science community but no real practical benefit for everyday society until countless years have passed.

Not really. Nobody doubted that gravity acted as a wave and the fact that it's so hard to find that wave or create a measurable wave means it can't and won't be used to carry information.

This discovery could be a huge moment for us in relation to space and our understanding of the universe, in a short term. Long term, no one knows yet what the applications could be.

it adds nothing to our understanding. Nobody doubted the gravitational wave existence. You also don't have to prove everything in a theory to accept the theory. Nobody doubted Einstein

Experimental physics is noble but it never changes our understanding of theoretical physics unless it disproves theoretical physics. This merely confirms a theory that has many other rigorous proofs. Gravitational lensing was proven 100 years ago.

Letree · 12-02-2016 12:05AM

Auld bertie was a smart buck

The_Valeyard · 12-02-2016 12:07AM

NIMAN wrote: »

When I heard it, my response was M'eh.

Probably the same sound of the big bang when all the universe was born

12-02-2016 12:14AM

I think some of you are missing the point. We currently use the electromagnetic spectrum to view the universe around us, so light, radio waves, gamma, microwaves etc etc.

We've never been able to detect gravitational waves before this experiment obviously. Now that we can it gives an entire new way of observing the universe, outside of the EM spectrum. The value in this isn't just confirming Einstein's theory, it's how it can be used in the future.

KomradeBishop · 12-02-2016 01:02AM

Eugene Norman wrote: »

Oh that bugged me too. There is no way this will change the way we view the universe since it's a confirmation of a theory nobody thought was false anyway. This science as marketing bugs after a while.

Well, this will change the world though, as it signifies the launch of 'gravitational wave astronomy' as a new and proven form of astronomical exploration.

This is a Big Deal, because up until now, it has been impossible to look past the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, further back into the earlier history of the universe, because that is basically a 'wall of light' that is the boundary of what can be seen visually, historically.

Gravitational waves though - this gives us a way to peer even further back, behind the CMB (gravity waves aren't blocked by light) - closer back in time towards the big bang:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_wave#/media/File:History_of_the_Universe.svg

YFlyer · 12-02-2016 01:12AM

Has it shown how gravity work between two bodies?

NIMAN · 12-02-2016 01:14AM

Crew Juicy Guillotine wrote: »

I think some of you are missing the point. We currently use the electromagnetic spectrum to view the universe around us, so light, radio waves, gamma, microwaves etc etc.

We've never been able to detect gravitational waves before this experiment obviously. Now that we can it gives an entire new way of observing the universe, outside of the EM spectrum. The value in this isn't just confirming Einstein's theory, it's how it can be used in the future.

M'eh.;)

12-02-2016 01:19AM

thee glitz wrote: »

It really is. A highly impressive achievement for Einstein confirmed, and they're all wettin themselves with the thoughts of research funding, but what does it mean for the man on the street...

The understanding of transfer of energy across space led to the understanding (mainly) of light, which led to TV, fiber optics, internet etc

No one knew what that would lead to at the beginning

NIMAN · 12-02-2016 01:21AM

Deleted User wrote: »

The understanding of transfer of energy across space led to the understanding (mainly) of light, which led to TV, fiber optics, internet etc

Can't wait for my 55" gravity TV. Gonna be class.

12-02-2016 01:23AM

NIMAN wrote: »

Can't wait for my 55" gravity TV. Gonna be class.

Or they use it to manipulate light into holograms and force fields and give you a holodeck???

Eugene Norman · 12-02-2016 01:30AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The understanding of transfer of energy across space led to the understanding (mainly) of light, which led to TV, fiber optics, internet etc

No one knew what that would lead to at the beginning

There's no way we are using gravity to transfer information (and information isn't spread mainly by light but by radio).

bIGgest discovery of the century

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