2/16/2016
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Gravitational Waves Validate Einstein and the Need for Basic Research US News
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Mort Zuckerman
Expanding Einstein's Vision The discovery of gravitational waves shows why funding for basic research is so vital.
Embrace big, bold efforts.
By France A. Córdova
Feb. 16, 2016, at 11:05 a.m.
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Last week, was one of my most exhilarating as director for the National Science Foundation. On the heels of announcing our 2017 budget request to Congress, I was able to gather researchers that the foundation funds from around the globe to announce that foundationsupported researchers at Caltech, MIT and other U.S. institutions have accomplished something of which Einstein only dreamed. With funding that started in the 1970s, NSF and the National Science Board had the vision to underwrite burgeoning gravitational wave research. A handful of researchers believed they could invent a tool that would indeed detect those gravitational waves Einstein only theorized a century ago. Today, we know they were right. They – along with a league of hundreds of other researchers from around the world – have detected gravitational waves using the Laser Interferometer Gravitationalwave Observatory, known as LIGO. This discovery will illuminate what we can learn about merging black holes, neutron stars and other exotic astronomical phenomena that raise so many questions about the evolution of our universe. [READ: Gravitational Waves Discovered: Top Scientists Respond] As an astrophysicist whose Ph.D. thesis committee at Caltech included black hole theorist Kip Thorne, I have long been excited by the potential this kind of discovery holds. When Galileo first turned a telescope to the sky and realized that he could learn more, he started a wonderful journey. And NSF has been there supporting fundamental science every step of the way so we could see further into our
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/20160216/gravitationalwavesvalidateeinsteinandtheneedforbasicresearch?int=957d08
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