Gravitational waves find could allow scientists to build a time machine to look at the universe’s past

Source: THE INDEPENDENT

n illustration of a supermassive black hole feasting on its surroundings. The central hole is hidden from view by gas and dust PA
The detection of gravitational waves could allow scientists to build something like a time machine to look into the earliest and darkest parts of the universe.
The “ripples in the fabric of spacetime” — which scientists are to announce have been detected for the first time — could allow people to reach back and understand how black holes and the universe itself were formed.

The waves have been detected by the LIGO project, based in the US, which uses highly-sensitive instruments to try and spot the waves as they move past the Earth. Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime itself, and are thrown out by black holes and dying stars —which scientists might now be able to get a better view of.

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Scientists to announce seeing 'ripples in the fabric of spacetime'

Now scientists hope that they can find success launching even more ambitious attempts to capture the waves. Some of those will be launched into space, while others will be based on the Earth.
Launching the equipment into space will allow scientists to get away from the noise and bustle of our planet, and could allow them to isolate the “sound” of the waves even more accurately. It will also allow for much more space — and the planned projects are thousands of kilometres wide.
One of the most ambitious of those projects is eLISA, which is set to be launched in the 2020.