Freaky Physics: Why the Discovery of Gravitational Waves Should Blow Your Mind... If you had held out some hope that the universes first few moments would be easy to understand or visualize, consider your bubble officially burst. Astronomers announced Monday (March 17) that they have discovered a telltale signature of gravitational waves in the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the light left over from the universes birth 13.8 billion years ago. The new results suggest that space-time really did expand at many times the speed of light in the first few tiny fractions of a second after the Big Bang, as predicted by the theory of cosmic inflation, researchers say. Learn more: space/25103-freaky-physics-gravitational-waves-inflation-discovery.html Image caption and credit: The BICEP2 telescope at twilight, which occurs only twice a year at the South Pole. The MAPO observatory (home of the Keck Array telescope) and the South Pole station can be seen in the background. (Steffen Richter, Harvard University) The BICEP2 telescope at twilight, which occurs only twice a year at the South Pole. The MAPO observatory (home of the Keck Array telescope) and the South Pole station can be seen in the background. Credit: Steffen Richter, Harvard University
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 17:15:00 +0000
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