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Nobel Prize in Physics 2017

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171003095828.htm

Nikki Nappi
Period E
10/12/17

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish, and Kip S. Thorne "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves." On September 14, 2015 the universe's gravitational waves were measured for the first time. Albert Einstein predicted these waves, a hundred years ago, would be caused by a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for these waves to be detected by the LIGO detecter in the US. These waves open doors to new ways to observe the violent events in space. The detection of these waves promise a revolution in astrophysics. The four recipients of the award have been tirelessly working for four decades to ensure the measurement of these waves could be measured and analyzed. In Einstein's theory of relativity, he described that these gravitational waves spread at the speed of light, filling the universe. They are created when a mass accelerates. Even Einstein was convinced they would never be able to be measured. As the gravitational waves passed the earth, LIGO was able to use a pair of gigantic laser interferometers to measure a change thousands of times smaller than an atomic nucleus. These waves are direct testimony to disruptions in spacetime itself. These new and different information can be used to expand our knowledge about space, astrophysics, and other never before explored parts of physics.

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