Light Eye
11-06-2005, 10:49 AM
Dear Friends,
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,9830,1635081,00.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
Grasping gravity
Alok Jha, science correspondent
Saturday November 5, 2005
The Guardian
Scientists believe they are on the verge of measuring gravitational waves, one
of the most elusive phenomena in the universe, for the first time.
Albert Einstein predicted the existence of these waves as part of his general
theory of relativity. He argued that when a mass accelerates, it causes the
fabric of spacetime around it to stretch and squeeze. The waves have remained
elusive to scientists for a simple reason: gravity is such a weak force that it
produces extremely tiny waves, and no instrument has usually been sensitive
enough to detect them.
But that limitation may soon be over. Yesterday, scientists at Hanford in the US
kicked off an experiment with a $350m (ÃÂà ƒÂƒÃ‚‚‚ÂàƒÃ‚ƒÃ‚‚£200m) machine called Ligo which they are
confident will bring the first evidence for the existence of Einstein's elusive
waves. Next month, Ligo will be joined by the Geo 600 detector in Hanover, which
cost ?7m (ÃÂà ƒÂƒÃ‚‚‚ÂàƒÃ‚ƒÃ‚‚£4.7m) and is being run by scientists from Glasgow, Cardiff,
Birmingham and Hanover universities.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,9830,1635081,00.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
Grasping gravity
Alok Jha, science correspondent
Saturday November 5, 2005
The Guardian
Scientists believe they are on the verge of measuring gravitational waves, one
of the most elusive phenomena in the universe, for the first time.
Albert Einstein predicted the existence of these waves as part of his general
theory of relativity. He argued that when a mass accelerates, it causes the
fabric of spacetime around it to stretch and squeeze. The waves have remained
elusive to scientists for a simple reason: gravity is such a weak force that it
produces extremely tiny waves, and no instrument has usually been sensitive
enough to detect them.
But that limitation may soon be over. Yesterday, scientists at Hanford in the US
kicked off an experiment with a $350m (ÃÂà ƒÂƒÃ‚‚‚ÂàƒÃ‚ƒÃ‚‚£200m) machine called Ligo which they are
confident will bring the first evidence for the existence of Einstein's elusive
waves. Next month, Ligo will be joined by the Geo 600 detector in Hanover, which
cost ?7m (ÃÂà ƒÂƒÃ‚‚‚ÂàƒÃ‚ƒÃ‚‚£4.7m) and is being run by scientists from Glasgow, Cardiff,
Birmingham and Hanover universities.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]