Albert Einstein said colliding black holes should create tiny jiggles in the space-time fabric. LIGO at Hanford was built to detect them if they exist. A second was built in Louisiana to confirm the event and also to triangulate where they came from. Apparently LIGO and its sister station detected the microscopic jiggles AGAIN!

The first event happened last fall, but it took months to confirm. The ones announced Wednesday occurred on CHRISTMAS DAY!

The scientists sit and stare at boring computer screens. It's usually not until hours after the jiggle they realize there might have been one. The laser beams are always jiggling a little just because of natural vibration. Abnormal jiggles must be confirmed with Louisiana and then the SHAPE of the jiggle gives clues as to the shape of the wavelength, which gives clues to the collision that created it.

The shape of the jiggles can tell them how far away the collision happened, the size of the black holes involved and more!

It's normal for people like you and me to say, "Who cares? How does this impact me?" The same was said when scientists first detected x-rays and gamma rays and also when they discovered radio waves. But now that technology is advanced enough to give us 3-D images of the insides of our brains and to transport videos instantly through the air. How will the discovery of gravitational waves impact us? We don't know yet, but scientists weren't even sure they EXISTED until last September!

Artur Matkovskyy
Artur Matkovskyy
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