Scientists have discovered ‘primordial gravitational waves’ – an echo of the big bang in which the universe came into existence 14bn years ago – for the first time. It’s described as ‘like a message from the dawn of time’, and if confirmed, would change the face of physics and give scientists their first glimpse of how the universe was born. Continue reading for a video and more information.
The team of scientists have have announced that they will unveil a ‘major discovery’ in the field of astrophysics on Monday (March 17) in a presentation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). This signal is speculated to have been found by a specialized telescope called Bicep (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) at the south pole, where it scans the sky at microwave frequencies, where it picks up the fossil energy from the big bang. Gravitational waves, the last untested prediction of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, are minuscule ripples in the fabric of the universe that carry energy across space – rather like the waves than travel across an ocean.
