FinallyGravitational Waves Detected, Confirming Einstein's Theory.

In physics, gravitational waves are ripples in the curvature of spacetime which propagate as waves, travelling outward from the source. Predicted in 1916 by Albert Einstein on the basis of his theory of general relativity, gravitational waves transport energy as gravitational radiation. The existence of gravitational waves is a possible consequence of the Lorentz invariance ofgeneral relativity since it brings the concept of a limiting speed of propagation of the physical interactions with it. By contrast, gravitational waves cannot exist in the Newtonian theory of gravitation, which postulates that physical interactions propagate at infinite speed.
Before the direct detection of gravitational waves, there was indirect evidence for their existence. For example, measurements of the Hulse–Taylor binary system suggested that gravitational waves are more than a hypothetical concept. Potential sources of detectable gravitational waves include binary star systems composed of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. Variousgravitational-wave detectors are under construction or in operation, such as Advanced LIGO which began observations in September 2015.
On February 11, 2016, the LIGO experiment team announced that they had directly detected gravitational waves from a pair of black holes merging.

Scientists are claiming a stunning discovery in their quest to fully understand gravity.
They have observed the warping of space-time generated by the collision of two black holes more than a billion light-years from Earth.
The international team says the first detection of these gravitational waves will usher in a new era for astronomy.
It is the culmination of decades of searching and could ultimately offer a window on the Big Bang.
The research, by the Ligo Collaboration, has been published today in the journalPhysical Review Letters.
The collaboration operates a number of labs around the world that fire lasers through long tunnels, trying to sense ripples in the fabric of space-time.

From prediction to reality: a history of the search for gravitational waves

• 1915 - Albert Einstein publishes general theory of relativity, explains gravity as the warping of spacetime by mass or energy
• 1916 - Einstein predicts massive objects whirling in certain ways will cause spacetime ripples—gravitational waves
• 1936 - Einstein has second thoughts and argues in a manuscript that the waves don't exist—until reviewer points out a mistake
• 1962 - Russian physicists M. E. Gertsenshtein and V. I. Pustovoit publish paper sketch optical method for detecting gravitational
• waves—to no notice
• 1969 - Physicist Joseph Weber claims gravitational wave detection using massive aluminum cylinders—replication efforts fail
• 1972 - Rainer Weiss of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge independently proposes optical method for detecting waves
• 1974 - Astronomers discover pulsar orbiting a neutron star that appears to be slowing down due to gravitational radiation—work that later earns them a Nobel Prize
• 1979 - National Science Foundation (NSF) funds California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and MIT to develop design for LIGO
• 1990 - NSF agrees to fund $250 million LIGO experiment
• 1992 - Sites in Washington and Louisiana selected for LIGO facilities; construction starts 2 years later
• 1995 - Construction starts on GEO600 gravitational wave detector in Germany, which partners with LIGO and starts taking data in 2002
• 1996 - Construction starts on VIRGO gravitational wave detector in Italy, which starts taking data in 2007
• 2002–2010 - Runs of initial LIGO—no detection of gravitational waves
• 2007 - LIGO and VIRGO teams agree to share data, forming a single global network of gravitational wave detectors
• 2010–2015 - $205 million upgrade of LIGO detectors
• 2015 - Advanced LIGO begins initial detection runs in September
• 2016 - On 11 February, NSF and LIGO team announce successful detection of gravitational waves