Gravitational Waves News: Scientists Simplify Explanation On Einstein's 'Discovery'
Last week's announcement on the existence of gravitational waves made headlines and credited Albert Einstein who first declared a century ago that they do exist. However, for many people, the confirmation of the reality of gravitational waves only came as words, leaving them without a basic understanding of what these waves are and how they work.
Thanks to The Guardian's interview with some experts, even a layman can now have some basic understanding of gravitational waves. In its posted article, The Guardian collated opinions of scientists, whom they asked to explain the discovery in the simplest way possible.
For University of Chicago Physicist Daniel Holz, gravitational waves can be likened to the Earth's gravitational pull that can't be seen nor felt, but has been proven to exist. He said that the black holes in the universe have stronger gravitational pulls that even the light from a flashlight can't get out once it is pulled into one of them. Additionally, he said that these black holes move a lot, and, when they crash into each other, it results in the creation of big waves that create a sound.
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Vicky Kalogera, a professor of physics and astronomy in the Northwestern University, likened the gravitational waves into a spinning game. The professor said that as two people play the game and pull each other, there is a chance for them to crash and fall. She said that stars in the universe are pretty much the same with two people playing the spinning game. They may grow old and become black holes, but they will continue to play the spinning game, creating unseen ripples in the universe once they hit each other.
Meanwhile, for Fulvio Melia, professor of physics, astronomy, and mathematics in University of Arizona, the space is like the ocean, and the stars, planets, and galaxies are like the objects floating on it, such as a lifesaver and water bottle. Despite the inability of the humans to feel the waves, he said that they exist, and they make the Earth bob so slightly.
"Think of gravity like a magnet, and everything in space has it. The bigger the object, the stronger the magnet. The sun is really big – big enough to attract the Earth, and the Earth attracts the moon, and because of gravity, they're all attracted to each other. It's like they all want to hug and be close. But they can't, so they send out little waves instead," he explained.
Brian Lantz, a senior research scientist at Stanford University, compared gravitational waves to heavy balls thrown at the trampoline that make a dent. As the trampoline beneath the heavier ball is dented, succeeding balls thrown at it will just roll down to the created dent.
An article on Tech Insider reported that physicist Imre Bartos at the Columbia University noted that Einstein had earlier disregarded the presence of gravitational waves as he thought they are beyond measure. The physicist, who is also involved in finding these gravitational waves, said:
"That's because we're looking for something way smaller than the size of the atom. It sounds crazy, but we're not crazy."
