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Troubled Times for Alternatives to Einstein’s Theory of Gravity
New observations of extreme astrophysical systems have “brutally and pitilessly murdered” attempts to replace Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
Black Hole Echoes Would Reveal Break With Einstein’s Theory
Gravitational waves have opened up new ways to test the properties of black holes — and Einstein’s theory of gravity along with them.
Squishy or Solid? A Neutron Star’s Insides Open to Debate
The core of a neutron star is such an extreme environment that physicists can’t agree on what happens inside. But a new space-based experiment — and a few more colliding neutron stars — should reveal whether neutrons themselves break down.
Colliding Neutron Stars Could Settle the Biggest Debate in Cosmology
Newly discovered “standard sirens” provide an independent, clean way to measure how fast the universe is expanding.
Neutron-Star Collision Shakes Space-Time and Lights Up the Sky
Astronomers have for the first time matched a gravitational-wave signal to a kilonova’s burst of light, observations that will “go down in the history of astronomy.”
LIGO Architects Win Nobel Prize in Physics
The American physicists Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish were honored for dreaming up and realizing the experiment that confirmed the existence of gravitational waves.
For Astronomers, Neutron Star Merger Could Eclipse Eclipse
Even as the solar eclipse was mesmerizing millions, astronomers were training their space- and land-based telescopes on a far more violent astrophysical event.
Strange Noise in Gravitational-Wave Data Sparks Debate
The team that discovered gravitational waves put their data online. Now an independent group of researchers claims that they’ve found what might be a serious problem.
Latest Black Hole Collision Comes With a Twist
The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory’s third detection further compounds the mystery of why black holes collide.