Catching the wave

Last week’s announcement that experimenters have successfully detected gravitational waves begins the third epoch of astronomy. Heretofore, we have only been able to explore the cosmos through the electromagnetic spectrum: First with visible light, and since the Second World War with radio waves, including X-rays and gamma rays. Now we have, as one scientist put it, developed “ears” to go with our “eyes.”

My good friend and colleague, science writer Kate Lunau, hosted a panel at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, on the day of the announcement. On the panel, Perimeter director Neil Turok said that the discovery will enable researcher to “see black things—dark matter, black holes—and much of what the universe is made up that doesn’t provide electromagnetic energy. His colleague, Luis Lehner, said that gravitational waves provide direct proof of the existence of black holes.

The beauty of gravitational waves is that it extends the nature of observation in researching the cosmos. Physicist Latham Boyle noted that in the past decades physicists had to work in the lab, adding known inputs to try and achieve an hypothesized outcome. But in the heavens, gravitational wave detection will extend the process of observing to see what pops up.

There could be all kinds of surprises and even shocks ahead. Big-bang theories of the creation of the universe can be detected. Turok and other physicists have asked the question, was the first Big Bang really the first? What if it’s been a series of Big Bangs stretching back into an incomprehensibly long past. And what if each time there was a Big Bang, this wasn’t the only universe created. What if the Big Bangs produce other universes, including doppelgangers of this one?

We’re a long way from detecting alternate universes, if they really do exist. But gravitational wave detection is a new tool, and there will be many surprises ahead. 

As usual, this blog is also in aid of promoting my new novel, Mayhem, which could can read for free on Wattpad or buy at Amazon's Kindle site. If you'd like a free sample for your Kindle, click here.