Science is Cool....

[Fish]

This is a repository for all cool scientific discussion and fascination. Scientific facts, theories, and overall cool scientific stuff that you'd like to share with others. Stuff that makes you smile and wonder at the amazing shit going on around us, that most people don't notice.

Post pictures, vidoes, stories, or links. Ask questions. Share science.

Why should I care?:

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by eDave

The waves were produced during the final fraction of a second of the merger of two black holes 1.3 billion years ago. For a brief fraction of a second, it was producing more energy power than the rest of the visible Universe combined.

One Scientist put it at 50 times the power of all the suns in the universe combined. Whoa.

How come Peyton Manning's forehead hasn't eaten it up yet?

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by trd84

Hopefully the mission to send a lander to Europa goes through. We need to send long term stuff to Jupiter's moons. enough of the fly by stuff. There is so much to learn in Jupiter's system. I think there is a decent chance to find life on some of the moons.

Europa has a great shot at having life.

Hopefully we don't find a monolith...

[dlphg9]

What does this do for us? What good comes from the discovery gravitational waves?

[Beef Supreme]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

What does this do for us? What good comes from the discovery gravitational waves?

[Fish]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

What does this do for us? What good comes from the discovery gravitational waves?

It gives us a completely new way to study the universe that is not dependent on electromagnetic radiation.

The discovery of gravitational waves confirms an important aspect of the theory of relativity, but it does much more than that. Quite literally, it opens up a new chapter in our exploration of the cosmos, one where electromagnetic radiation is no longer our only tool for “seeing” the universe. As MIT astrophysicist Scott Hughes told Gizmodo in a phone interview, we can use gravitational waves to probe mysterious celestial objects like black holes and neutron stars, which typically no light.

“There’s a lot of rich information encoded in gravitational waves,” he said, noting that the shape of a spacetime ripple can tell us about the size and motion of the object that produced it. “As an astronomer, I try to think about how to go from the ‘sound’ of the waveform that LIGO measures, to the parameters that produce that waveform.”

Hughes also notes that once our detectors are sensitive enough to catch gravitational waves regularly, we can start to build a census of the universe’s most energetic events. “Actually getting some demographic data is one of the key things we hope to do in an era of detection,” he said.

“Whenever first detection happens, there’s gonna be a party, no question,” he continued. “But after that, when detection becomes routine, is when things start getting really interesting.”

http://gizmodo.com/holy-shit-scienti...f-g-1755465297

[Hydrae]

So we have proven that these gravitational waves do exist by finding two black holes at the moment of their collision 1.3 Billion years ago. How many times do you think that occurs? If it took this unusual set of circumstances for us just to be able to prove the theory, I fail to see how this means that we are suddenly going to be able to detect gravitational waves on a regular basis.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

So we have proven that these gravitational waves do exist by finding two black holes at the moment of their collision 1.3 Billion years ago. How many times do you think that occurs? If it took this unusual set of circumstances for us just to be able to prove the theory, I fail to see how this means that we are suddenly going to be able to detect gravitational waves on a regular basis.

They create a ripple in space time. This proves they are there and will now yield data towards spotting them. Not just this one, but the many that came before it. Waves don't stop.

Once we can find one, we ride.

[BigMeatballDave]

We just need to make one of these.

[aturnis]

Not only does it give us a brew tool, but it further solidifies Einstein's theory general of relativity.

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

So we have proven that these gravitational waves do exist by finding two black holes at the moment of their collision 1.3 Billion years ago. How many times do you think that occurs? If it took this unusual set of circumstances for us just to be able to prove the theory, I fail to see how this means that we are suddenly going to be able to detect gravitational waves on a regular basis.

Yea I mean dumb ass scientists dont even know what they are doing. You got em pegged. This isnt going to help at all.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by hometeam

Yea I mean dumb ass scientists dont even know what they are doing. You got em pegged. This isnt going to help at all.

Only when it comes to global warming.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

What does this do for us? What good comes from the discovery gravitational waves?

That's been my question. General knowledge is good, but does it lead to anything practical? Will it heat up my Hot Pocket faster? I haven't figure that out yet.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That's been my question. General knowledge is good, but does it lead to anything practical? Will it heat up my Hot Pocket faster? I haven't figure that out yet.

Oh it will heat your Hot Pocket dude. REAL good.

Here's a great ELI5:

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlike...the_discovery/

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by hometeam

Yea I mean dumb ass scientists dont even know what they are doing. You got em pegged. This isnt going to help at all.

Not what I said at all. This is an important discovery and long term will probably mean a lot of advances. But my point was that given the long odds of the event that allowed them to see this it may be a while before we are able to find another one. Eventually we will get to the point where we will be able to measure and experiment with gravitational waves but probably not in the lifetime of anyone posting here currently.

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

Not what I said at all. This is an important discovery and long term will probably mean a lot of advances. But my point was that given the long odds of the event that allowed them to see this it may be a while before we are able to find another one. Eventually we will get to the point where we will be able to measure and experiment with gravitational waves but probably not in the lifetime of anyone posting here currently.

Why do you think that? My grandpa lived with dirt floors and a single, battery powered radio for his whole town.

Now he pulls out a 1 inch piece of metal from his pocket and has every single bit of information the human race has ever known on it.

Thats a pretty big leap