Scientists Detect Gravitational Waves, Proves Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity

A team of astrophysicists announced on Thursday that they have finally detected, heard, and recorded gravitational waves, thus proving Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Until the latest discovery, there had been no evidence of gravitational waves.

As it turns out, the team of scientists had heard two black holes - don't worry, they're a billion light years away from Earth - colliding in space, which generated evidence of the theory.

"That faint rising tone, physicists say, is the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago," reports the New York Times. Take a listen here.

The new findings have helped complete Einstein's vision of a universe wherein time and space are intertwined and dynamic - where it is "able to stretch, shrink and jiggle." Not only that, but the discovery also confirms the nature of black holes: "a bottomless gravitation pit, in which light cannot even pass through."

"We are all over the moon and back," said Gabriela Gonzalez of Louisiana State University and spokeswoman for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration. "Einstein would be very happy, I think."

According to AJC.com, a photo went viral on social media site Imgur shortly after the announcement was promulgated. The photo features a statue of Albert Einstein holding up a sign that said, "told you so." After only being up for three days, the photo has already garnered over 2.3 million views.

View post on imgur.com

The statue is found on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. The Robert Berks sculpture was installed in the campus just last fall, which stands 12 feet and weighs one and a half tons.

Interestingly enough, two faculty members at Georgia Tech College of Sciences were part of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration team that discovered the existence of gravitational waves.