Science: Signals From Distant Disasters

The search intensifies for Einstein's gravity waves

When Albert Einstein unveiled his general theory of relativity in 1916, he predicted several phenomena that could be used to test its validity. Two of them -- that light is bent by gravity and that the orbit of Mercury wobbles in a certain way -- were confirmed within just a few years, convincing scientists that relativity was a revolutionary discovery, not just a mathematical curiosity. But Einstein thought another of his claims would never be proved. His theory predicted that fast-moving, massive objects emit gravity waves, small distortions moving through the fabric of space and time. Einstein said these waves would...

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