Albert Einstein famously dismissed quantum physics as “spooky action at a distance”, but quantum science may have the last word, with researchers in Brisbane and Tokyo finally providing the missing experimental proof.
CSIRO’s Parkes telescope records pulsar signals to try to detect gravitational waves. Credit: David McClenaghan / CSIRO
Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts them, and they could be scattered throughout the Universe. But so far, gravitational waves— ‘ripples’ in the fabric of space and time—have never been detected. Several Australian teams of astronomers are trying to catch the first signs of one.
