Scientists are planning on making a big announcement on Thursday regarding recent research efforts to reveal evidence of gravitational waves, the ripples of space and time that are thought to transport energy across the universe, according to Phys.org. To date they have never been measured, although Albert Einstein hypothesized their existence a century ago as a part of his theory of general relativity.
If gravitational waves have been spotted, it will mark one of the biggest scientific discoveries ever and further our understanding of the origins of the universe. Furthermore, the findings will coincide with the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's first publication that predicted the existence of gravitational waves, according to LIGO Scientific Collaboartion.
The announcement comes off the heels of a rumor that began circulating last month that the waves had been spotted.
"My earlier rumor about LIGO has been confirmed by independent sources. Stay tuned! Gravitational waves may have been discovered!! Exciting," cosmologist Lawrence Krauss wrote on his Twitter account.
Gravitational waves are believed to form around massive astronomical objects such as black holes and neutron stars and lead to the warping of space and time. If this gravitational radiation is real, it will open up a whole new realm of astronomy that does not use telescopes, instead using the presence of these waves as a means of viewing these black holes and neutron stars, according to Forbes.
