(Washington, DC) — Journalists are invited to join the National Science Foundation as it brings together the scientists from Caltech, MIT and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) this Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the National Press Club for a status report on the effort to detect gravitational waves - or ripples in the fabric of spacetime - using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO).
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first publication of Albert Einstein's prediction of the existence of gravitational waves. With interest in this topic piqued by the centennial, the group will discuss their ongoing efforts to observe gravitational waves.
LIGO, a system of two identical detectors carefully constructed to detect incredibly tiny vibrations from passing gravitational waves, was conceived and built by MIT and Caltech researchers, funded by the National Science Foundation, with significant contributions from other U.S. and international partners. The twin detectors are located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington. Research and analysis of data from the detectors is carried out by a global group of scientists, including the LSC, which includes the GEO600 Collaboration, and the VIRGO Collaboration.
For additional background about the project, you may be interested in these websites:
LIGO Lab: https://ligo.caltech.edu/
(Observatories: Livingston | Hanford)Advanced LIGO: https://www.advancedligo.mit.edu/
LIGO Scientific Collaboration: http://www.ligo.org/
LIGO Partner Experiments and Collaborations: http://www.ligo.org/partners.php
WHEN:
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016
10:30 AM US EST
Catch the live stream at:
Onstream URL: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/219/13131
You Tube Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/user/VideosatNSF/live