First Evidence of Giant Gravitational Waves Thrills Astronomers

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June 29, 2023

This week's all about the vibes. Vibrations in the fabric of reality, that is. Better known as gravitational waves, these ripples in spacetime have become one of the hottest topics in astrophysics ever since their first direct detection in 2015 from merging stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars. But now researchers have managed to tune in to gravitational-wave vibes of a higher order—supersized ones coming from supermassive black holes or other strange cosmic sources, which fill the universe with a sort of ambient hum. This "gravitational wave background" contains untold scientific treasures we're only just beginning to explore. Read our lead story to learn more—then peruse other articles about the cultural obsession with UFOs, alien planets at the edge of our solar system, the science-infused brilliance of the late author Cormac McCarthy, and more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics

Black Holes First Evidence of Giant Gravitational Waves Thrills Astronomers Astrophysicists are tuning in to a never-before-seen type of gravitational waves spawned by pairs of supermassive black holes By Meghan Bartels

Black Holes The Universe Is Abuzz with Giant Gravitational Waves, and Scientists Just Heard Them (Maybe) Researchers, using the galaxy as a detector, believe they have detected gravitational waves from monster black holes for the first time. By Lee Billings,Jeffery DelViscio,Alexa Lim,Tulika Bose | 15:25

Astronomy A Potentially Spectacular Comet Will Fly by Earth Next Year Professional and amateur astronomers alike are hoping that Comet C/2023 A3 will sparkle in Earth's skies in the fall of 2024, although comets are notoriously difficult to predict By Meghan Bartels

Astronomy A 'Captured' Alien Planet May Be Hiding at the Edge of Our Solar System The cold and mysterious Oort cloud at the edge of our solar system may be hiding a rogue planet By Joanna Thompson,LiveScience

Extraterrestrial Life UFOs Keep Appearing in the News. Here's Why We Can't Quit Them For most of us, aliens are a source of mystery and fun, which keeps them forever in vogue By Keith Kloor

Arts Cormac McCarthy's Work Is Rooted in Science Cormac McCarthy's curiosity about science made him a great writer By Nick Romeo

Space Exploration Musk and Bezos Offer Humanity a Grim Future in Space Colonies Privately owned space colonies are more likely to be totalitarian nightmares than libertarian utopias By Matthew R. Francis

Geology Giant 'Gravity Hole' in the Ocean May Be the Ghost of an Ancient Sea A vast expanse of the Indian Ocean is a staggering 100 meters lower than the global average sea level because of a major dip in Earth's gravity. Scientists now think they know the cause By Tom Metcalfe

Natural Disasters Is Fukushima Wastewater Release Safe? What the Science Says Radiation in water from Fukushima will be diluted to almost background levels, but some researchers are not sure this will be sufficient to mitigate the risks By Bianca Nogrady,Nature magazine

Taking 3D Snapshots of Biological Structures in Motion Using Electron Beams A scientist has demonstrated a simple way to produce atomic-level 3D images of delicate frozen proteins and organelles of cells and viruses, without destroying them

Consciousness A 25-Year-Old Bet about Consciousness Has Finally Been Settled A brain scientist and a philosopher have resolved a wager on consciousness that was made when Bill Clinton was president By John Horgan

QUOTE OF THE DAY "There's a lot of work still to do over the next decades. Really, this is by no means the end of the story--this is just the beginning." Maura McLaughlin, an astrophysicist at West Virginia University, regarding ongoing efforts to study the gravitational wave background

FROM THE ARCHIVE The Future of Gravitational Wave Astronomy Fully opening this new window on the universe will take decades—even centuries By Lee Billings | February 2016

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