科学家终于发现重力波.docxVIP

科学家终于发现重力波It?took?100?years,?but?finally,?scientists?proved?AlbertEinsteins?theory?that?gravitational?waves?exist.The?waves?were?predicted?as?part?of?EinsteinsGeneral?Theory?of?Relativity?nearly?100?years?ago.?Itwas?the?theory?of?the?physics?behind?the?workings?ofour?world?and?the?universe.The?idea?was?that?the?waves?are?like?ripples?in?space,?caused?by?some?of?the?violent?andenergetic?processes?in?the?Universe.?For?example,?two?black?holes?crashing?into?each?other.Now?a?group?of?scientists,?including?ones?from?from?CalTech,?MIT?and?the?LIGO?ScientificCollaboration?finally?found?the?gravitational?waves.David?Reitze?is?the?executive?director?of?the?LIGO?observatory?at?CalTech.We?have?detected?gravitational?waves.?We?did?it! (applause)Reitze?spoke?with?others?at?a?press?conference?in?Washington,?DC?this?past?week.?Thescientists?announced?they?were?able?to?see?ripples?in?the?fabric?of?space?time.This?is?what?the?waves?sounded?like.?Listen?for?the?chirp?sound?at?the?end:What?are?these?gravitational?waves??Well,?imagine?throwing?a?rock?into?a?pond.?When?therock?hits?the?flat?surface?of?the?water,?it?creates?ripples?or?waves.?Spacetime?is?like?the?surfaceof?the?water.?So?that?means?gravitational?waves?are?like?the?ripples?moving?out?from?where?therock?hits?the?water.It?might?be?hard?to?understand,?but?those?gravitational?waves?expand?and?contract?spaceand?time?as?they?move?through?space.?And?when?they?get?to?the?Earth,?the?waves?passthrough,?and?contract?and?expand?the?planet?as?the?wave?goes?by.It?was?Einstein?who?said?these?gravitational?waves?should?be?observable.But?these?are?not?huge?waves.?They?are?very,?very?small,?which?is?why?it?took?so?long?to?findthem.?You?cannot?see?them?with?your?eyes.?They?are?smaller?than?the?size?of?an?atom.How?did?the?scientists?find?them?They?used?a?giant?scientific?tool?called?LIGO—which?stands?for?the?Laser?InterferometerGravitational-Wave?Observatory.?The?billion-dollar?LIGO?project?is?two?L-shaped?observatories.One?is?in?Louisiana?an