TORONTO, February 11, 2016 鈥� Scientists at the (LIGO) announced today that they have detected gravitational waves, upholding Einstein鈥檚 century-old theory of general relativity. It was one of the last pieces of the puzzle.

鈥淭his is huge. It was the missing link in the theory of relativity,鈥� said 91亚色 physics and astronomy Professor Matthew Johnson. 鈥淚t proves we have the right theory of gravity.鈥�

Gravity is this highly polygamous force that interacts with anything that has mass. When a gravitational wave goes by, it causes everything to move in a squishing motion. 鈥淭ake an orange, for example. Gravitational waves will compress it in one direction, then the other,鈥� said Johnson. 鈥淭he same squishing motion happens in the LIGO experiment, which is how gravitational waves were detected.鈥�

The problem is it鈥檚 incredibly difficult to detect the slight squishing motion of gravitational waves. 鈥淭he experiments by scientists at LIGO in the United States and VIRGO in Italy are now sensitive enough to plausibly see something,鈥� said Johnson.

In this case, LIGO scientists in the United States were able to observe the merging of two massive black holes, each about 30 times the mass of the Sun creating strong enough gravitational waves to be detected.

Johnson is available to discuss today鈥檚 finding, from 12:30 to 3:30pm and after 4:30pm, by Skype or phone.

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