We all experience the effects of gravity every day. From sitting in a chair to the process of digestion (wowie!) gravity has an effect on all of us from subatomic particles to mammoth galaxies. Gravity has existed since the beginning of time, but scientists have yet to completely understand its magnitude, that is, how “conquering” gravity can help the human race advance as an ultra-civilized civilization. Albert Einstein gave us our first real answer to what gravity really is and how we can harness it with his theories of special relativity. And after more than 100 years, his theories are still proven to be sound. One of Einstein’s field equations shows that certain cataclysmic events, like the supernova of a star or the merger of two black holes, produce waves of information called gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime. The discovery of gravitational waves was science fiction at the time; even Einstein himself did not believe that such waves existed. A group of physicists and engineers set out to prove that these waves did in fact exist. Starting in the late 1960’s, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, LIGO, was designed in order to detect gravitational waves to the utmost accuracy. Only recently, just this past February, have they scientifically proven these waves do exist. So big deal, why is this important? What is least understood about gravity is that it carries information just like electromagnetic waves (X-rays, gamma rays, visible light and others) do. With the information these waves carry, we will be able to understand how gravity interacts with spacetime, the matter in the universe and, ultimately, the origin of our universe.

To begin, it is important to understand what gravitational waves are. Gravitational waves are so called “ripples” in the very fabric of spacetime, the material which space itself is made out of. They are created by extremely violent events in the universe like the supernova of stars or the merger of binary black holes. The more violent the event, the stronger the gravitational waves are. One of the reasons why this discovery so huge is that gravitational waves interact so weakly with matter that they are almost impossible to detect. Even with the major technological advancements in science, and LIGO having instruments that are precise down to billionths of a percent, there is still barely a guarantee that the system will detect these waves. Just having been able to prove them has been a major leap in technology and scientific theory. The other reason is that with this discovery we now have a completely new method of researching how information across the universe travels and, even more exciting, new types of information that we are able to study that we previously have not been able to before. Since gravitational waves ARE NOT electromagnetic waves and interact very weakly with matter, they pass through materials unimpeded and can be observed and studied without any distortion from outside materials unlike electromagnetic waves.

With the information they carry, we can study events that are not very well understood like black holes and collisions of massive objects like stars. We can also use the information to study objects that we cannot directly observe with our own eyes like how dark matter affects other celestial objects by the use of its gravity. They can also give us insights into what the universe was like billions of years ago by studying the objects that these waves come from (since these waves travel at the speed of light if we observe waves that traveled for billions of years we are studying what that object was doing a billion years ago.)

The discovery of gravitational waves was a huge breakthrough in the field of physics and went drastically under the radar when the conformation of their existence was released to the public. The leaps made in technology and the understanding of our universe are so profound, that scientists from all fields are calling this the greatest discovery since the cultivation of Einstein’s theory of relativity, over 100 years ago. This discovery will not only help us understand the universe that we call home, but where it came from and, ultimately, how it will come to a close.