Good NYT article on gravitational waves discovery

by done4good 16 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  done4good

  I remember that also, Sparrowdown. I think this one might fair better since it appears probability comes into play with the findings.

  d4g
  
• 

  prologos

  now the space-based gravity wave detectors know what to look for.
• 

  sparrowdown

  I'm surprised, pleasantly of course, that such an encouraging result has presented itself so quickly. I thought it would be years away.

  We are living in a real boom period for discoveries I think.
• 

  Saintbertholdt

  It's not real until it's been explained to me in simple terms by Morgan Freeman.
  
• 

  sparrowdown

  Saintbertholdt - Id prefer the voice of the Big Giant Head from 3rd rock from the sun, to explain it to me. Lol.
• 

  Saintbertholdt

  Hi sparrowdown,

  I'm still sticking to Morgan Freeman. Picture the scene, a sailboat on a clear lake. Morgan's silky smooth voice narrates:

  Visualize the luffing of a sail as a sailboat comes about or tacks. The waves in the sail’s fabric are similar in many ways to gravitational waves, but instead of sailcloth fabric, gravitational waves move through a “fabric” of space. Einstein called this fabric the “space-time continuum” in his 1916 work known as General Relativity. Although this theory is very sophisticated, the concept is relatively simple.

  Scene cuts to a busy New York intersection:
  

  This fabric is four dimensional. It has the three usual dimensions of space—east-west, north-south, and up down—plus the fourth dimension of time. Here is an example: we define a location on this “fabric” as 5th Street and Third Avenue on the forth floor at 9 AM. We can’t see this “fabric,” just as we can’t see wind, sound, or gravity for that matter. Nevertheless, those elements are real, and so is this “fabric.” If we could generate ripples in this space-time fabric, many applications would become available to us. Much like radio waves can be used to transmit information through space, we could use gravitational waves to perform similar functions...

  To be continued...in 2019
• 

  prologos

  Saintbertholdt: "instead of sailcloth fabric, gravitational waves move through a “fabric” of space. Einstein called this fabric the “space-time continuum.

  Of course Einstein was an avid sailor, both in berlin and off New Jersey/York. He would be surprised that his first gravity waves discovered were actually rips in his sail's 4D fabric, or rather the merger of two black holes into one. He would have more respect for American sail makers/researchers too. His US boat, was named "Tinnef" a name that would bring a smile to anybody that shared his 1930 berlin dialect. from "tinny," thinly made.