New Atlas

Physics Audio available

New-and-improved LIGO may have detected a black hole eating a neutron star

Michael Irving May 2, 2019

We’re now getting new gravitational wave detections so often it almost doesn’t seem special anymore. Barely a month into a new observation run, the LIGO/Virgo collaboration has now reported five new events, including what may be the first ever detection of a black hole swallowing a neutron star.

An artist's rendition of two neutron stars colliding, which is believed to be responsible for one ...

Physics Audio available

More powerful than ever, LIGO fires back up to search for gravitational waves

Michael Irving April 4, 2019

In 2015, a century-old prediction by Einstein was finally proven correct, as gravitational waves were detected for the first time. Now, the facilities behind this discovery, LIGO, are back up and running after a year-long upgrade, with a few new tricks up their sleeves.

Scientists begin the process of upgrading the LIGO hardware for the third observing run, which kicked ...

Physics Audio available

Most powerful gravitational waves event stands out among four new detections

Michael Irving December 3, 2018

Gravitational waves are ripples in the very fabric of spacetime, caused by some of the biggest cataclysms in the cosmos. Now, an international team of scientists has presented the full catalog of these events, gathered over the last few years across two observation runs.

An artist's impression of two neutron stars on a collision course – a cataclysm that produces ...

Physics

Can we use gravitational waves to detect hidden dimensions?

Michael Irving September 16, 2018

The universe as we know it is made up of three spatial dimensions, right? But some physics models suggest the existence of extra dimensions that we can’t perceive. In an effort to find evidence of these dimensions, researchers have studied gravitational waves and come up empty.

The collision of two neutron stars could help shed light on whether our universe is hiding ...

Space

NASA sheds light on strange object created in cosmic collision

Michael Irving May 31, 2018

In August 2017, astronomers observed a collision between two neutron stars so powerful it produced gravitational waves, flares in visible light, radio waves, x-rays and a gamma ray burst. Now that things have quietened, astronomers have studied the strange object created in the cosmic collision.

An artist's rendition of two neutron stars colliding, an event observed for the first time in ...

Space

Neutron star cosmic collision keeps burning brighter, baffling scientists

Michael Irving January 21, 2018

Last year astronomers around the world witnessed the merger of two neutron stars as gravitational waves, light, radio and gamma rays, but the aftermath of the mashup hasn’t played out quite as expected. Rather than fade over time, the afterglow has continued to brighten.

An artist's rendition of the merger of two neutron stars, which was witnessed for the first ...

Science Feature

From tiny tardigrades to the world's largest artificial sun: The year in science, 2017

David Szondy December 28, 2017

2017 was a busy year for science. Researchers got new tools, doctors got new medicines, and tables were laid with new foods, the ultimate shut-ins got their first glimmer of freedom, and we learned who really will inherit the Earth. Let's look back at the highlights of this year in science.

This year, we learned that the tardigrade is one tough customer

Space

The plan to use pulsars as galactic-scale gravitational wave detectors for supermassive collisions

Michael Irving November 14, 2017

The precise instruments at the LIGO and Virgo facilities were responsible for past detections of gravitational waves, but now astronomers plan to look for ripples from supermassive black hole collisions using natural detectors in space: pulsars, the “cosmic lighthouses” of the sky.

The regularity of a pulsar's electromagnetic signals can be used to detect lower frequency gravitational waves, ...

Physics

NASA turns to lobsters to help locate the sources of gravitational waves

David Szondy October 30, 2017

Gravitational waves are one of the biggest scientific discoveries in recent years, but pinpointing their sources isn't easy. To help with this, NASA is turning to a surprising source – lobsters, whose eyes are being used as a model for new space-based instrument.

Novel lobster-eye optics have been used in an instrument designed to help locate the sources of ...

Physics

Neutron star smashup produces gravitational waves and light in unprecedented stellar show

Michael Irving October 16, 2017

A team of scientists has announced the fifth detection of gravitational waves, but there’s a groundbreaking difference this time: the ripples were caused by the collision of two neutron stars, meaning the event was accompanied by light, radio, and other electromagnetic signals for the first time.

For the first time, astronomers from around the world have detected gravitational waves caused by two ...