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Just months after their discovery, gravitational waves coming from the mergers of black holes are shaking up astrophysics.
A satellite spotted a burst of light just as gravitational waves rolled in from the collision of two black holes. Was the flash a cosmic coincidence, or do astrophysicists need to rethink what black holes can do?
The path from a revolutionary set of equations to the detection of gravitational waves was strewn with obstacles and controversy, explains the physicist Daniel Kennefick — and the struggle continues.
Ripples in space-time have been detected a century after Einstein predicted them, launching a new era in astronomy.