Gravitational Waves: Explained

Hundred years after Albert Einstein’s prediction of the presence of gravitational waves in his Theory of Relativity, a team of scientists from 15 countries led by David Reitze, LIGO laboratory executive director, announced their detection on Thursday, taking the world of physics to new exciting heights.

Detection of gravitational waves can explain why there was a sudden enlargement of the universe, called inflation, in the wee hours of the Big Bang

The detection made at LIGO was of gravitational waves produced by two black holes that merged after spiralling towards each other about 1.5 billion years ago.

Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi. We publish news and analysis on issues that deal with sustainable development, which we scan through the eyes of science and environment.