The Absurdity of Detecting Gravitational Waves

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  • čas přidán 4. 01. 2017
  • A head-vaporizing laser with a perfect wavelength detecting sub-proton space-time ripples.
    Huge thanks to Prof Rana Adhikari and LIGO: ligo.org
    Here's how he felt when he learned about the first ever detection: • How Scientists Reacted...
    Thanks to Patreon supporters:
    Nathan Hansen, Donal Botkin, Tony Fadell, Saeed Alghamdi, Zach Mueller, Ron Neal
    Support Veritasium on Patreon: bit.ly/VePatreon
    A lot of videos have covered the general overview of the discovery of gravitational waves, what they are, the history of the search, when they were found but I wanted to delve into the absurd science that made the detection possible.
    When scientists want one megawatt of laser power, it's not just for fun (though I'm sure it's that too), it's because the fluctuations in the number of photons is proportional to their square root, making more powerful beams less noisy (as a fraction of their total). The smoothest mirrors were created not for aesthetic joy but because when you're trying to measure wiggles that are a fraction the width of a proton, a rough mirror surface simply won't do.
    Filmed by Daniel Joseph Files
    Music by Kevin MacLeod, www.incompetech.com "Black Vortex" (appropriately named)
    Music licensed from Epidemic Sound epidemicsound.com "Observations 2" (also appropriately named)

Komentáře • 12K

  • @BurakBagdatli
    @BurakBagdatli Před 7 lety +1393

    "The laser will evaporate your head instantly."
    "Oh, OK. Let me put on my goggles." B)

    • @seeranos
      @seeranos Před 7 lety +52

      Appropriate goggles emoji is appropriate.

    • @pushkarsoni8927
      @pushkarsoni8927 Před 7 lety +17

      don't use the cheap ones :)

    • @TheDr00g
      @TheDr00g Před 7 lety +9

      its for potential stray light

    • @darovi
      @darovi Před 7 lety +53

      "MY EYES! THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!"

    • @pushkarsoni8927
      @pushkarsoni8927 Před 7 lety

      i warned you .!.

  • @perrytheplatypus7563
    @perrytheplatypus7563 Před 3 lety +4828

    “A megawatt will vaporize your head instantly” Good thing they have a first aid kit.

    • @VikingMan44
      @VikingMan44 Před 3 lety +91

      I don't think betadine and a bandaid is going to help...

    • @majapahitsumatra5771
      @majapahitsumatra5771 Před 3 lety +59

      I couldn't resist laughing man, you killed it

    • @yingxiawei821
      @yingxiawei821 Před 3 lety +16

      Red sus

    • @spiralx6249
      @spiralx6249 Před 3 lety +13

      Theres a wonderful (read, eye-popping) CGI effect in the first series of The Expanse, where a man's head is 'disappeared' instantly in space by a hi=speed traveling chunk of debris. I was reminded of that when he described this.

    • @lazertroll702
      @lazertroll702 Před 3 lety +21

      Meh... I'll be impressed once they start using 1.21 gigawatts ...

  • @computer_toucher
    @computer_toucher Před 2 lety +1245

    Kudos for getting a "I wish more people would ask that question" from a leading scientist in his field. That must be the best compliment ever for a layman (sorry I don't know your physics credentials lol)

    • @chuckmaddox6725
      @chuckmaddox6725 Před 2 lety +146

      He has a PhD

    • @shukrantpatil
      @shukrantpatil Před 2 lety

      That's a high school level question smartass .

    • @Milark
      @Milark Před 2 lety +19

      @@alexbartley3610 millions of people have a profile picture with them and their partner. It’s a normal thing. And it can be considered advertising your sexual preference.

    • @MS69CHRIS
      @MS69CHRIS Před 2 lety +63

      This Comment section wack

    • @Resolve3s
      @Resolve3s Před 2 lety +12

      @@MS69CHRIS fr

  • @slickstretch6391
    @slickstretch6391 Před 2 lety +924

    When being hit by that laser, you cease being biology and become physics.

  • @eggyrepublic
    @eggyrepublic Před 3 lety +3347

    5:17 so not only are football fields a unit of length in America, footballs is also a unit of volume.

    • @chromiyum6849
      @chromiyum6849 Před 3 lety +194

      THIS IS AMERICA

    • @Prototheria
      @Prototheria Před 3 lety +288

      @@chromiyum6849 If it was really America, he would have used cubic hamburgers.

    • @pflaffik
      @pflaffik Před 3 lety +112

      Unacceptable, only olympic swimmingpools is approved as an american unit of volume. Still better than british, the last few years BBC insisted on using dinosaurs as a unit for everything, and just like other british products it doesnt work.

    • @Prototheria
      @Prototheria Před 3 lety +84

      @@pflaffik I'm sorry, but that is absolute nonsense. The British have long used unladen swallows to perform various distance/time equations and not, my good Sir, dinosaurs as you so inaccurately implied. Now then. Good DAY!

    • @MrDino1953
      @MrDino1953 Před 3 lety +21

      EggyRepublic - I’m surprised he didn’t use the Australian unit of volume which is Sydney Harbours of water, given his Australian roots.

  • @viclincoln1366
    @viclincoln1366 Před 3 lety +8197

    I love scientists who don't care to iron their shirts even for an interview .

    • @carso1500
      @carso1500 Před 3 lety +949

      For the way he speaked initially it appeared like he wasnt really all that thrilled by the interview, it's posible that this isnt his first interview and most people can barely understand what he is talking about so why even matter, his question about the infrared light wave lenght being bigger than the distortion caused by the gravitational wave surprised him for the best, you can see how lively he suddenly become

    • @kingk2405
      @kingk2405 Před 3 lety +99

      He is not in the demanding position so why bother .

    • @bhavikshah1946
      @bhavikshah1946 Před 3 lety +228

      Because he is an typical Indian

    • @theoverseer393
      @theoverseer393 Před 3 lety +174

      Or those that wear whatever suits them. They’re the real scientists

    • @bigsherk42069
      @bigsherk42069 Před 3 lety +126

      @@bhavikshah1946 I just thought that. Lololol dude my dad is a brown Asian and I was gonna say this. My dad is a giant Filipino and never irons anything lol

  • @TLguitar
    @TLguitar Před 2 lety +181

    This interview made me think how the science of physics is basically matter trying to understand itself.

    • @vidyasagardaud8518
      @vidyasagardaud8518 Před 2 lety +5

      *Biologically Organised Matter

    • @shrooman768
      @shrooman768 Před 2 lety +7

      bro, science in general is just matter trying to understand matter

    • @TLguitar
      @TLguitar Před 2 lety +2

      @@shrooman768 That's the case mostly when discussing natural science rather than, let's say, formal science. And in natural science I'd say all branches are ultimately sourced within physics.

    • @TheLuminousOne
      @TheLuminousOne Před rokem

      Consciousness.

  • @Mormodes
    @Mormodes Před 3 lety +187

    I really wish this channel was around when I was younger. The way information is presented in your videos makes it much easier to conceptualize and understand. Back in High School we were sat in front of a book and told to read it. We didn't care, we had a million other things to think about besides reading a bland book. I can only hope the kids watching these kinds of videos today can see the wonder in what's happening. LIGO is an incredible feat, and I'd heard the name before, but never understood what it really was doing. Thank you!

  • @erikig
    @erikig Před 7 lety +6807

    Rana Adhikari looks like the scientist you have to drag out of the bar to save the world at the end of a sci-fi movie when the pencil necked number crunchers have failed

    • @LuisSierra42
      @LuisSierra42 Před 6 lety +172

      stop watching movies, they are making you dumb

    • @Commandelicious
      @Commandelicious Před 6 lety +281

      Going "wubwubwubwubbrrrrrrr LETS DO THIS!" and fires the gigawatt laser at some atoms

    • @ViperoK
      @ViperoK Před 6 lety +120

      Thats oddly specific

    • @nosuchthing8
      @nosuchthing8 Před 6 lety +85

      I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. An awesome comment!

    • @6884
      @6884 Před 6 lety +9

      or to save the other bar customers from slipping so hard on the floor after all the chicks went Niagara

  • @rens6374
    @rens6374 Před 7 lety +3834

    the guy looked so cool with his glasses lol

    • @chrisvellner3922
      @chrisvellner3922 Před 7 lety +50

      Issued safety equipment is mandatory

    • @martinv6777
      @martinv6777 Před 7 lety +153

      Chris Vellner safety is numba one priority

    • @DerFrischkopf
      @DerFrischkopf Před 7 lety +12

      Rens and his crocs!

    • @AtodaZ23
      @AtodaZ23 Před 7 lety +32

      Damn I was just about to comment that lol, he kinda reminded me of Morpheus

    • @Dhakhar
      @Dhakhar Před 7 lety +4

      lmfao, well played Sir.

  • @Rinka277
    @Rinka277 Před 3 lety +159

    The guy explained the most advanced technology i have ever seen in 5 minutes using baby language.
    I feel like i am a scientist!

  • @sploofmcsterra4786
    @sploofmcsterra4786 Před 2 lety +107

    The challenge of removing the interference was crazy. The clouds themselves had a gravitational effect. And the silica threads would resonate, causing unique spikes in the readings. Wild stuff.

  • @jojojorisjhjosef
    @jojojorisjhjosef Před 7 lety +343

    Its funny to me how there are physicists and engineers that know everything about lasers, do everything with lazers, and suddenly they are dealing with cosmology.

    • @Voidsworn
      @Voidsworn Před 7 lety +52

      Not really. Science tends to be interdisciplinary, but still cool.

    • @Chronically_ChiII
      @Chronically_ChiII Před 7 lety +80

      Mathematicians and physicists can end up everywhere because how pure their branch is.

    • @KaiPlews
      @KaiPlews Před 7 lety +55

      jojojorisjhjosef lasers get involved in anything as long as you science hard enough.

    • @Dream0Asylum
      @Dream0Asylum Před 7 lety +62

      Everything is physics. EVERYTHING. Geology is physics. Cosmology is physics. Chemistry is physics. Engineering is physics. Physiology is physics. Photonics is physics.
      Being a specialist does not invalidate the cornerstones by which all other disciplines operate.

    • @MuffinTastic
      @MuffinTastic Před 7 lety +11

      why do you people have this urge to correct him? all he's saying is that it's interesting, not "incorrect"

  • @fluffmallow1159
    @fluffmallow1159 Před 5 lety +694

    Orange crocs and those shades? what a legend

    • @ZesPak
      @ZesPak Před 4 lety +33

      The shades are maybe mandatory in the "laser zone".

    • @hamjudo
      @hamjudo Před 4 lety +9

      @@Vallecaucanisimo
      There are a whole bunch of lasers in the real-time measurement system that damps external vibrations. There are more lasers to worry about than the one in the tube.
      They were standing next to a semi-functional scale model, far from LIGO. They have a very simple policy to protect people from the big beam. When people are working in that building, they shut off the beam. LIGO can't produce good data when there are people or other masses moving near by.
      The scale model is used to test ideas before they start working on the real thing. It is functional in the sense that it is comparing laser beams in a vacuum, and there are real sensors being tested. It is not functional in the sense that it can't detect a real gravity wave. They have some other mechanism to move the mirrors do they can test hardware and software.

    • @hamjudo
      @hamjudo Před 4 lety +4

      @@Vallecaucanisimo No problem.
      Some graduate student once put a laser enclosure back together wrong in a distant university research lab, and bad things happened. So now the safety engineers at universities and national laboratories want everyone to be at least two mistakes away from blindness, death, or dismemberment.

    • @derekboyt3383
      @derekboyt3383 Před 4 lety +2

      Voice: Kent, wake up!
      Kent: Who is this?
      Voice: It’s Jesus Kent! Stop playing with yourself!
      Kent: It is god.

    • @TIBYCOLLINS
      @TIBYCOLLINS Před 4 lety +2

      Future project being guarding us from black holes. Yessir absolute legend

  • @FatherManus
    @FatherManus Před 2 lety +22

    5:35 This guy is a mad scientist in the making.

  • @thedanyesful
    @thedanyesful Před 2 lety +3

    Out of all the Veritasium videos I've watched, this is my favorite. Dr. Adhikari's responses were both educational and entertaining.

  • @MRSLAV
    @MRSLAV Před 5 lety +6736

    Imagine explaining what you do to your investors

    • @gustavlicht9620
      @gustavlicht9620 Před 5 lety +551

      Well, you have to apply for this money, so you need to show pretty solid motivation. There are tons of people competing for research grants and you have to explain why you and not the next person.

    • @kelvin254kk
      @kelvin254kk Před 5 lety +41

      send them this video

    • @MRSLAV
      @MRSLAV Před 5 lety +40

      They would need a time machine.

    • @nathanwoodruff9422
      @nathanwoodruff9422 Před 5 lety +55

      All you have to do is dream up something so absurd that sounds intelligent that will take forever to prove if provable that you have life long income for basically doing really nothing. That is what this is. If you are the only one that can prove it, you can go hunting ghosts all you like. Gravity is a function of wave energy, nothing more. Gravity is also not a pull force but a push force from within.

    • @semiolith
      @semiolith Před 5 lety +13

      In fact, the vague and airy cliches that LIGO must rely upon to explain its particular power to transcend loopholes are no different than dishonesty. Dishonesty is the kernel upon which investment accrete. Hubris lately has been unprecidented.

  • @carso1500
    @carso1500 Před 3 lety +2126

    I just love how adhikari face completly iluminated once he mentioned the size of the light wave, it was like he was expecting some idiot that would not really understand what he was talking about (like he has probably have to deal with before) and was just extatic to find someone that also talks his tongue

    • @sumitraturi7791
      @sumitraturi7791 Před 2 lety +18

      @@ymbhiojtukburtbuyt568 maybe pr maybe not

    • @vedangratnaparkhi
      @vedangratnaparkhi Před 2 lety +57

      Good thing Derek is a PHD in physics

    • @slickstretch6391
      @slickstretch6391 Před 2 lety +143

      I know that feeling. When I suddenly realize that the person I'm talking to understands and has some knowledge of their own on the subject, it's super exciting. Especially when you're used to explaining a thing every. single. time.

    • @leisureb
      @leisureb Před 2 lety +3

      I was going to make the same comment :)

    • @h1o84
      @h1o84 Před 2 lety +1

      👍

  • @teppec
    @teppec Před 2 lety +12

    I always like coming back to some of your older content and looking at it with eyes that have now seen some of the fruits of this research. Would be interesting to do a follow-up on LISA and see some in depth information on how they are looking at transitioning this project to space to be able to detect even more gravitational waves.

  • @TheTuubster
    @TheTuubster Před 2 lety +35

    So, if I understood it right: While the light being inside the space when it is stretched is stretched too, new light that is entering the stretched space is actually travelling the difference in distance due to the stretching.

    • @amangupta5323
      @amangupta5323 Před 2 lety

      Yes, because the gravitational waves haven't yet stretched the new light. At least, that's what I understood.

    • @vidyasagardaud8518
      @vidyasagardaud8518 Před 2 lety +1

      I don't know what you understood but it is different from what i understood which makes me feel im understanding the wrong thing.

    • @laestrella9727
      @laestrella9727 Před 2 lety

      I understood that they were making the tube 'boggier' to get through... (!) and not much else... As in.. I'm not sure how that then helps them with their comparison..

    • @josepedrogaleanogomez4870
      @josepedrogaleanogomez4870 Před rokem

      Yeah, and they measure the difference in time it took the new light to travel the stretche space in reference to the time it should have taken, since the wavelenght is fixed.
      But i feel like i dont understand it well enough.

    • @nmarbletoe8210
      @nmarbletoe8210 Před rokem +1

      yes, the key being that the gravitational wavelength is VERY long, so while it passes the light goes back and forth in the detector many times.

  • @carlosponchio1869
    @carlosponchio1869 Před 5 lety +2760

    that white shirt was last ironed in 1988, May 12.

    • @randomdude9135
      @randomdude9135 Před 4 lety +98

      He barely has human interaction. So he's lazy 😂

    • @Cosmic_Love
      @Cosmic_Love Před 4 lety +58

      Did you measure it with gravitational waves?

    • @SirNyanPanda
      @SirNyanPanda Před 4 lety +181

      @EZIO AUDITORE DA FIRENZE What does this have to do with anything? He's billion times smarter than you

    • @jehezz
      @jehezz Před 4 lety +68

      @@SirNyanPanda its just a joke why so serious?

    • @ahamedmaluk1493
      @ahamedmaluk1493 Před 4 lety +4

      So how the frick you got the date may 12 lol

  • @OuterRem
    @OuterRem Před 5 lety +534

    Rana Adhikari is the prof whose classes you tried your hardest to register for, only to realize that it was already waitlisted at 2.7 femtoseconds. I'd kill to have this guy as a lecturer.

    • @SukacitaYeremia
      @SukacitaYeremia Před 4 lety +11

      Lol, did a pack of bacteria waitlisted him?

    • @marknasia5293
      @marknasia5293 Před 4 lety +5

      OuterRem that is who designed that project, easy A scientists that went on to secure govt grants

    • @derekboyt3383
      @derekboyt3383 Před 4 lety +3

      And that is why he doesn’t lecture.

    • @karthickmurali598
      @karthickmurali598 Před 4 lety +4

      Did you just said you would kill someone? I am calling the cops

    • @TucsonDude
      @TucsonDude Před 3 lety

      Meh.

  • @abhayagarwal5097
    @abhayagarwal5097 Před 7 měsíci +10

    Didn't understood much but mind blowing how motivated humans are to do things that would take unimaginable size and money to build instruments that could have detected these things easily.

  • @litmusaero2645
    @litmusaero2645 Před 2 lety +41

    I love that guy, he’s so smart but so funny and relatable. I wish more people could be like him and our father derick

  • @PeteBetter
    @PeteBetter Před 3 lety +753

    A professor who can explain the highly complex to the every day person like me is a treasure.

    • @aoaoa605
      @aoaoa605 Před 2 lety +1

      Oh you are a professor!?

    • @Systenize
      @Systenize Před 2 lety +4

      The professor: 1:06

    • @michaelmacdonald2907
      @michaelmacdonald2907 Před rokem

      The measure of your understanding is your ability to explain it to others

    • @ryanwatkins7924
      @ryanwatkins7924 Před rokem

      I was just thinking about the Veritasium audience and our demographics. I wonder at what level does he tell his interviews to explain concepts and what level most of the viewership is comprised? I ain't no professor myself or nothing, but I pick up because I am able to understand the concept at a fundamental level. I had professors, actual professors, that failed to explain much less complex questions as well as these videos do. This channel is so great.

  • @brettb.7425
    @brettb.7425 Před 4 lety +737

    I thought the guy was meditating before explaining this.

    • @brianhecimovich4488
      @brianhecimovich4488 Před 3 lety +1

      mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Bp P p

    • @heaven4247
      @heaven4247 Před 3 lety +1

      thats when I was Born.

    • @crapmailtome5621
      @crapmailtome5621 Před 3 lety +4

      Hahaha..He is Indian guy..thats why.

    • @PlubusDomis
      @PlubusDomis Před 3 lety +3

      A lot of those folks do, the intelligent usually have their own morning rituals which is like a form of meditation if you think about it, whether it's sleeping in late or being productive early, everyone has a different circadian rhythm.
      Just a fun little rabbit hole that ur welcome to join me in

    • @heaven4247
      @heaven4247 Před 3 lety +1

      @@PlubusDomis We,We,
      Are creature's of habit s
      I gotta have it hahaha 😉

  • @kennyalternative
    @kennyalternative Před 2 lety

    Mind expanding info. I did not understand this measuring of gravitational waves till now. Thanks for making it simple enough for me to understand.

  • @caty863
    @caty863 Před 2 lety +5

    This guy is genuinely happy that finally someone is asking an intelligent question. You can tell he's used to the regular media and their stupid questions

  • @smartereveryday
    @smartereveryday Před 7 lety +2292

    I really liked this man. Is it really just a Michelson Interferometer on a really incredible scale?
    Excellent job on this video. Prof Adhikari did a FANTASTIC job as well.

    • @trevorcginn
      @trevorcginn Před 7 lety +96

      Thanks to CZcamsrs like you and Derek, the scientists doing this kind of incredible work are able to be showcased. I think a lot of personality is cut out (more often than not) when specialists like Rana Adhikari are interviewed by cable media or documentary creators. Showing him in a casual light shows the audience that anyone can be contributing to science if they work towards it hard enough. These kind of honest interviews bring a real human element to the world of science and I'm thankful the world has people like you, Derek, and Rana. Keep being awesome! :)

    • @TCBYEAHCUZ
      @TCBYEAHCUZ Před 6 lety +29

      I like how you said it's just a Michelson interferometer

    • @thesunflowchannel1995
      @thesunflowchannel1995 Před 6 lety +1

      SmarterEveryDay found you!

    • @pvtmill3rr
      @pvtmill3rr Před 5 lety +3

      gravity doesn't exist
      czcams.com/video/984kY2uNLkI/video.html
      czcams.com/video/x0EGB_o9TZM/video.html
      czcams.com/video/0NM5q22j5VI/video.html
      czcams.com/video/nyDey7QSgg4/video.html

    • @dontomaso11
      @dontomaso11 Před 5 lety +2

      i dont like him

  • @1ucasvb
    @1ucasvb Před 7 lety +1244

    Hah, Prof. Rana is awesome!

    • @CallMeTipz
      @CallMeTipz Před 7 lety +73

      hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

    • @gurpreetsingh793
      @gurpreetsingh793 Před 7 lety +4

      Also, how he makes those sounds :P

    • @CookingWithCows
      @CookingWithCows Před 7 lety +7

      sounded almost like... a frog... which is called rana in spanish, lol

    • @tolyaph
      @tolyaph Před 7 lety +4

      He needs to get a new shirt, too ;)

    • @ChrisOrillia
      @ChrisOrillia Před 7 lety +20

      He's like a Pixar character, lol.

  • @brahmburgers
    @brahmburgers Před rokem +13

    I've watched this entire video 3 times, at month's intervals, .... and it still amazes me. Thanks to everyone involved. It's sooooo cool.

  • @duaneburris7ate9
    @duaneburris7ate9 Před 7 měsíci

    I'm so glad someone was around to see this, Dave

  • @ariestheram5693
    @ariestheram5693 Před 4 lety +3813

    Scientists : "We are able to detect gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes 1.3 billion light years away"
    Also scientists : "For the last time, the Earth is round"

    • @ogi22
      @ogi22 Před 4 lety +53

      ROTFL, that was a good one :D

    • @sarthakshakya5500
      @sarthakshakya5500 Před 4 lety +97

      also some people : earth is flat

    • @KougaJ7
      @KougaJ7 Před 4 lety +152

      Some people are born smart, some people are born stupid. And some of them just don't care what the truth is, but prefer to spout whatever comes to their minds instead. :) There's a person for anything.

    • @elizasales8204
      @elizasales8204 Před 4 lety +13

      and we don't are smarter people if we just believe in them not knowing the why that earth be round

    • @MrRichiarditya
      @MrRichiarditya Před 4 lety +19

      Sphere not round

  • @SandlotRider
    @SandlotRider Před 7 lety +446

    I Detect a Gravitational Meme is Born 1:06

  • @mattsmith2247
    @mattsmith2247 Před rokem +1

    I'm really glad I found this video because I first learned about LIGO in the episode on Black holes from the show Strip the Cosmos. And I had so many questions. So I'm loving this video fir asking those questions

  • @derpnerpwerp
    @derpnerpwerp Před 2 lety +7

    I'm really glad you did this video.. I was reading about this the other day and I had the exact same question about environmental noise.. I asked on reddit and I kinda got snobby answers.. thanks!

  • @publiclyshamed5383
    @publiclyshamed5383 Před 3 lety +517

    I’m always the smartest person in the room when I’m watching Veritasium alone.

    • @floreaciprian9742
      @floreaciprian9742 Před 2 lety +36

      Sometimes i feel like the dumbest person in the room when im watching Veritasium alone

    • @abhineetthaire4602
      @abhineetthaire4602 Před 2 lety

      @@floreaciprian9742 well you can be both the smartest and the dumbest in the room at once!

    • @AtPrEd
      @AtPrEd Před rokem +11

      @@floreaciprian9742 Schrödingers Intelligence 😆

    • @CdFMasterVideo
      @CdFMasterVideo Před rokem +3

      ​​@@floreaciprian9742 Quantum superposition says you can be both as long as there's no observator in the room

    • @childcannibalism5080
      @childcannibalism5080 Před 11 měsíci +1

      ​@@floreaciprian9742 It's a 50/50 either I feel extremely dumb or very smort

  • @veritasium
    @veritasium  Před 7 lety +929

    Prof Rana Adhikari is clearly a star. Here's how he felt when he learned of G-wave detection: czcams.com/video/ViMnGgn87dg/video.html
    Those glasses provide laser protection - the laser in that lab won't vaporize your head but it could burn your retinas.

    • @adamgreen7742
      @adamgreen7742 Před 7 lety

      Kissy kissy.

    • @subhoghosal7
      @subhoghosal7 Před 7 lety +3

      Veritasium Name should be pronounced as Rana Odhikari ( 'A' is pronounced in Bengali as 'O')

    • @Luisitococinero
      @Luisitococinero Před 7 lety +2

      +Veritasium
      Next step will be using two slits for studying the diffraction of gravitational waves!!!

    • @veritasium
      @veritasium  Před 7 lety +45

      I believe the upgrade to 1MW they're implementing right now. The 1064 nm lasers have excellent stability, low noise and they are not huge - this makes them ideal for this purpose. BTW older g-wave interferometers used green lasers (that's why Rana's glasses were green).

    • @uhmGrimz
      @uhmGrimz Před 7 lety +1

      Veritasium Hey why are you guys wearing the glasses in there? Some protection?

  • @carrickrichards2457
    @carrickrichards2457 Před rokem

    An intriguing glimpse into new possibilities and old ones. Thank you

  • @joftenly
    @joftenly Před 3 lety +18

    "Guys... science is sometimes boring...."
    "Yeah but not if we wear sunglasses."
    Production Manager: "We wearing sunglasses!!!"
    Boom science is cool now.

    • @thekinginyellow1744
      @thekinginyellow1744 Před 2 lety

      When you are in an environment with that kind of laser power special anti-laser glasses are required. a single dust particle in the beam could deflect enough light to fry your retinas

  • @josephastier7421
    @josephastier7421 Před 4 lety +512

    1:25 The Alpha Centauri vs human hair comparison is killing me.

    • @MMCKB
      @MMCKB Před 4 lety +5

      True 10 mm ≠ 0.1 mm :)

    • @justinl2009
      @justinl2009 Před 3 lety +2

      @Progressive Dude same, though it's Pokemon not CoD in my case.

    • @dominic9517
      @dominic9517 Před 3 lety +2

      seriously.... makes no sense

    • @timoms1748
      @timoms1748 Před 3 lety +3

      @John Loibl u don’t

    • @dumbass3843
      @dumbass3843 Před 3 lety +6

      @@dominic9517 lets say you are measuring a table that is 30 cm long with a measuring tape
      Is the the table 30.000001 cm or 29.999999 cm
      Now imagine one end of the table is milkway and the other end is alpha santori
      Is the distance and hair width longer or one hair width shorter

  • @Jimmeyyyyy
    @Jimmeyyyyy Před 7 lety +150

    That guy is so chill

    • @27plays
      @27plays Před 7 lety +4

      :P yeah

    • @AkashRajDahal
      @AkashRajDahal Před 7 lety +8

      lol.. The guy is a Nepali

    • @wyomingptt
      @wyomingptt Před 7 lety +1

      He sounds American

    • @Ophiax
      @Ophiax Před 7 lety

      pGpants
      indians ask all my friends for nudes, not my favourite

    • @27plays
      @27plays Před 7 lety +1

      ElectroBarb who is ceo of google? microsoft? Adobe Systems? MasterCard..... see im not pretending we are god... but we are kinda cool not only us but we all on earth are amazing, beautiful peoples ;) accept every person's opinion.. and those who asked for n**es are kinda exceptions.. whom you found every where else too... lets not fight on these some words and enjoy the nature of science and explore through Veritasium

  • @straightdrive6192
    @straightdrive6192 Před rokem +2

    level of expertise is known in how simple someone can explain a complex topic in their domain.

  • @alastermcdonach2020
    @alastermcdonach2020 Před 2 lety

    Ron Drever described this in a lecture I attended in 1976. Thank you Ron.

  • @besmart
    @besmart Před 7 lety +1991

    A megawatt *continuous* laser? That's a helluva beam. I toured the Petawatt laser in Austin but that thing only fires for like a trillionth of a second

    • @johnarbuckle2619
      @johnarbuckle2619 Před 7 lety +38

      It's Okay To Be Smart I love your channel

    • @willwhite1987
      @willwhite1987 Před 7 lety +28

      I thought he said light was discrete, duh.

    • @ABaumstumpf
      @ABaumstumpf Před 7 lety +69

      I want one of those - gonna troll my cat with a 1 megawatt :D

    • @derek
      @derek Před 7 lety +105

      It's Okay To Be Smart the power of the laser itself is much lower but they resonate it in a cavity to build up to 1MW

    • @ABaumstumpf
      @ABaumstumpf Před 7 lety +13

      Gameboygenius www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/ligos-ifo
      Seems like 750 kW can be stored in the arms.

  • @Prototheria
    @Prototheria Před 3 lety +691

    3:11 I tell my wife the same thing.

    • @TheArchit1
      @TheArchit1 Před 3 lety +10

      haha

    • @bhaaratsharma6023
      @bhaaratsharma6023 Před 3 lety +5

      Because it's too small?

    • @BlackVogel1
      @BlackVogel1 Před 3 lety +53

      Can you measure it?
      *Changes size 100 times a second*

    • @Axairu
      @Axairu Před 3 lety +13

      She gotta meausre it in milimeters

    • @benm8407
      @benm8407 Před 3 lety +20

      i clicked the time stamp and the advertisement i got was about consumer cellular saying
      “its that easy grandma”
      oh god oh no oh no

  • @maxfoster4383
    @maxfoster4383 Před rokem +1

    I've always been a fan of the content you and others like you (smartereveryday, vsauce, ect.) make, but recently I've been on a binge of your content. Please never stop helping us learn new things about our world!

  • @astrobua2343
    @astrobua2343 Před 2 lety +6

    I watched this five times now. In my opinion, it is one of Veritasium's best. Thanks, Derek!

  • @nigglebit
    @nigglebit Před 5 lety +1216

    Humans are amazing.
    We are able to detect changes to our very frame of reference *from within that frame of reference.*

    • @MisterWillow
      @MisterWillow Před 5 lety +98

      That is the surprising part indeed!
      Good thing the interviewer asked explicitely how that works, and after a lame joke he clearly explained, well kind of clearly.

    • @nigglebit
      @nigglebit Před 5 lety +32

      @@MisterWillow Hahaha that's so accurate! I also could understand the theory, somewhat, but the practicality is still unclear to me. Basically, I'm not enough acquainted with the field.

    • @johnterpack3940
      @johnterpack3940 Před 5 lety +105

      I can't wait til they can measure the pixels on the screen of the simulation we're part of.

    • @MrPhilipe711
      @MrPhilipe711 Před 5 lety +15

      @@nigglebit thing is, there aint much to understand.. an interaction so strong that had too much energy dispensed.. being it noticeable over our planet system noise. This energy flow wended up stretching spacetime in the direction it came from. simply then we measure two 90 degrees angle lengths using lasers. (called interferometer). which is able to pick on quantum distances being bended in reference to another (if one length is streched more than the other it will take the light from the laser a tiny bit more time causing it to when it comes back to interfere with the other light causing positive and negative patterns of interference seen as the final laser (getting brighter and darker) with different levels of intensity over time), which happened that we were able to measure with clarity.
      .

    • @Sushobhit333
      @Sushobhit333 Před 5 lety +2

      @@johnterpack3940 indeed haha that would be nice and along with that i would also like to know how the universe goes into edit mode by the creator of our simulation

  • @vinayaknavada4677
    @vinayaknavada4677 Před 3 lety +618

    That professor is like "I don't need to iron my shirt , I need answers "😅

  • @amazinggreats5333
    @amazinggreats5333 Před 2 lety +39

    So basically… gravity waves make space-time wiggle a bit and make giant lasers get darker slower when the gravity wave passes over the laser. Did I get that right?
    And you need to use one very low wavelength of light so that you can even detect the wiggle because on a higher wavelength, the light won’t interfere enough for it to be detected.
    Gosh, I feel like I’m operating on the edge of my IQ here hahaha

    • @janmamu8721
      @janmamu8721 Před rokem

      opposite wavelengths destroy each other, so when one of the lightwaves stretch they get more or less different, so more or less light survives so they can detect the difference by detecting the brightness of the resulting combined laser stream… probably

    • @Jason9637
      @Jason9637 Před 11 měsíci

      ​@@janmamu8721 The beam splitter actually puts the photons into a superposition (similar to the double slit experiment), and then each photon will interfere with its own waveform. Photons can't interfere with each other, only themselves.

    • @janmamu8721
      @janmamu8721 Před 11 měsíci

      @@Jason9637 thanks!

  • @xlynx9
    @xlynx9 Před rokem +3

    5:23 thank you @Veritasium for answering the question I came here for. And I love how Prof Rana Adhikari was tickled at you being the first journalist to ask interesting questions. The way you introduced him was so crazy and funny! Now I have another question, were you guys wearing sunnies to protect your eyes from possible laser leakage?

  • @Coco044
    @Coco044 Před 3 lety +115

    The guy running that place knows so much about what hes doing its amazing. He found the perfect job (for him).

  • @mike_dunno
    @mike_dunno Před 7 lety +2544

    That guy's shirt has been affected by some gravitational waves

    • @TheDudecof
      @TheDudecof Před 6 lety +96

      Reading your comment and laughing after watching such a complex and advanced explanation is kind of like the same feeling as walking into a warm room after hiking through the arctic for one hour

    • @TauCu
      @TauCu Před 6 lety +4

      Stiggy Vandsrinskeen
      How? And why didn't they find anything?

    • @assootoshmotah2350
      @assootoshmotah2350 Před 6 lety +2

      Stiggy Vandsrinskeen Antropy is the problem my friend.

    • @nishant147vats
      @nishant147vats Před 6 lety +3

      And there are those who throw candy away and cry why there is a printing mistake on its label.

    • @4amcuriosity162
      @4amcuriosity162 Před 6 lety +1

      Miika Mäentaus
      Maybe he lives inside a black hole

  • @andrewwalker3002
    @andrewwalker3002 Před rokem +1

    As usual fantastically interesting and very intelligent interview🙏🏼❗️

  • @brendanfan3245
    @brendanfan3245 Před rokem +1

    review it after 6 years, it still let me fell excited.

  • @jjuupa
    @jjuupa Před 7 lety +848

    *video starts
    *doesn't understand anything
    *keeps watching
    *video ends
    **feels smart*

    • @Mp57navy
      @Mp57navy Před 7 lety +14

      Hmm... what part didn't you understand? I'd go so far and say they explained it pretty idiot proof...

    • @jjuupa
      @jjuupa Před 7 lety +48

      glad to know you're all smart to understand every single part of this video😊😊 Smart enough to leave a comment bragging about it

    • @diarmuidhurley3230
      @diarmuidhurley3230 Před 7 lety +1

      Mp57navy. Wow. .!A true Michael Brown

    • @vizthex
      @vizthex Před 7 lety

      I've heard of that but not seen it.

    • @mrgomelonsolaris
      @mrgomelonsolaris Před 6 lety

      but why show less?

  • @sbkaggle5961
    @sbkaggle5961 Před 4 lety +837

    When you are a PhD student watching this amazing absurdly incredible accomplishment, and realizing that your simpler, and ultimately more useless research, has dumbass problems you have no idea how to solve.

    • @FFGG22E
      @FFGG22E Před 4 lety +18

      Its funny that so many smart people cant see how this makes no sense

    • @Green-pq2jk
      @Green-pq2jk Před 4 lety +64

      @@FFGG22E they might not be able to explain it all but just because it doesnt make sense for your little brain doesnt mean its wrong and I doubt you got a better theory

    • @user-mz7cn9hq8v
      @user-mz7cn9hq8v Před 4 lety +7

      Wtf is with self-creators here

    • @chappie3642
      @chappie3642 Před 4 lety +90

      @@Videot99 it's a CZcams comment, no one cares about punctuation

    • @adolf221
      @adolf221 Před 3 lety +31

      Videot99 are you serious

  • @RiDankulous
    @RiDankulous Před rokem +1

    Rana Adhikari is an excellent communicator. It is remarkable this achievement was completed and the results accepted by the scientific community.

  • @aiden-b
    @aiden-b Před 2 lety

    My astronomy professor worked on this project. It was super cool to talk to her about.

  • @safir2241
    @safir2241 Před 5 lety +1900

    Aliens have this on their smartphones

  • @adamgillespie3393
    @adamgillespie3393 Před 3 lety +80

    Imagine testing your lasers and then one of them bends weirdly and it turns out that they were affected by two colliding blackholes from over a billion years ago

  • @LD-qj2te
    @LD-qj2te Před 3 lety +5

    My mind is blown ! I would love to know how they compensated for everything and how things were toleranced

  • @kato_dsrdr
    @kato_dsrdr Před 2 měsíci +1

    I'm just glad that there are people out there that are intelligent enough to figure this out.

  • @victoriaeads6126
    @victoriaeads6126 Před 3 lety +114

    Prof. Rana Adhikari is SUPER AWESOME! He's obviously an expert in this field, and he's eminently capable of explaining his passion in a way that others who don't have his knowledge can more easily understand. That's a rare talent.
    Sir, I hope you teach undergraduates, because you are the sort who can REACH undergraduates and enthuse them about science and physics.

  • @leerowe280
    @leerowe280 Před 4 lety +133

    The more science Professors I see the more I realize they are the BEST HUMANS AROUND

  • @LuisLopez2
    @LuisLopez2 Před rokem +2

    I have lived a few blocks away from that Caltech building for years and this is first time I get to see what's inside of it.

  • @YeloPartyHat
    @YeloPartyHat Před 2 lety +3

    That man is a good communicator... and in his job I would imagine rightfully so!

  • @WarringFighter
    @WarringFighter Před 5 lety +1288

    i’m stereotyping, but he’s the type of brown dude, with glasses that has hit the highest levels of chill and great to hang around with

    • @namitanene3531
      @namitanene3531 Před 4 lety +5

      😂😆😁

    • @fitnesspoint2006
      @fitnesspoint2006 Před 4 lety +7

      here is a better video of your brown guy czcams.com/video/ViMnGgn87dg/video.html

    • @burnttoast0425
      @burnttoast0425 Před 4 lety +23

      not gonna lie, they got us in the first half.

    • @Anonymous37980
      @Anonymous37980 Před 4 lety +4

      I'm sorry I put back the megawatt laser and stop vaporizing people please just stop showing up in the comment section

    • @ultimaxkom8728
      @ultimaxkom8728 Před 4 lety +3

      @JOYJIT ROY k...?

  • @77gravity
    @77gravity Před 3 lety +679

    Stuff like this makes "rocket science" look extremely simple.

    • @jamesambrocio
      @jamesambrocio Před 2 lety +44

      @@charliebingaman571 exactly. A huge chunk of the technology we use in our daily lives were accidentally discovered/invented because of these 'useless' projects, as they say.

    • @yuritardid7761
      @yuritardid7761 Před 2 lety +48

      @@charliebingaman571 Better than spending billions on war

    • @maxwellsequation4887
      @maxwellsequation4887 Před 2 lety +2

      @@charliebingaman571 go back to your trash can

    • @maxwellsequation4887
      @maxwellsequation4887 Před 2 lety +14

      Rocket science IS simple. Its like basic Physics. Anyone with a very basic knowledge of calculus can understand most of it. NASA is kinda lame.

    • @frankdimeglio8216
      @frankdimeglio8216 Před 2 lety

      @Mario Castillo THE ULTIMATE (AND CLEAR) MATHEMATICAL UNIFICATION (AND PROOF) REGARDING PHYSICS/PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE IS NOW DEMONSTRATED, AS E=MC2 IS F=MA: TIME DILATION ultimately proves (ON BALANCE) that E=mc2 IS F=ma, as ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. This NECESSARILY represents, INVOLVES, AND DESCRIBES what is possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE. (Importantly, balance and completeness go hand in hand.) The stars AND PLANETS are POINTS in the night sky. NOW, A PHOTON may be placed at the center of WHAT IS THE SUN (as A POINT, of course); AS the reduction of SPACE is offset by (or BALANCED with) the speed of light (c); AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Indeed, ultimately and truly, TIME is NECESSARILY possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE; AS E=MC2 IS F=MA; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Very importantly, outer "space" involves full inertia; AND it is fully invisible AND black. GREAT. Accordingly, INSTANTANEITY is thus FUNDAMENTAL to what is the FULL and proper UNDERSTANDING of physics/PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE; AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. It ALL CLEARLY makes perfect sense. Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. E=mc2 IS F=ma. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. E=MC2 IS F=MA. GREAT !!! Gravity AND ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy are linked AND BALANCED opposites, AS E=mc2 is F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Consider THE MAN who is standing on what is THE EARTH/GROUND. Touch AND feeling BLEND, AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. The stars AND PLANETS are POINTS in the night sky. GRAVITATIONAL force/ENERGY IS proportional to (or BALANCED with/as) inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravity/acceleration involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Accordingly, the rotation of WHAT IS THE MOON matches it's revolution. Great. MOREOVER, a given PLANET (including what is THE EARTH) then sweeps out equal areas in equal times consistent WITH/AS F=ma, E=mc2, AND what is perpetual motion; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. INSTANTANEITY is thus FUNDAMENTAL to what is the FULL and proper UNDERSTANDING of physics/physical experience, AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. This NECESSARILY represents, INVOLVES, AND DESCRIBES what is possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE. Stellar clustering ALSO proves ON BALANCE that E=mc2 IS F=ma, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. Objects (including WHAT IS the falling MAN) fall at the SAME RATE (neglecting air resistance, of course), as E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. "Mass"/energy is gravity. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. E=mc2 IS F=ma. THE DOME of a PERSON'S EYE is ALSO VISIBLE. (Notice the flat AND black space of what is THE EYE.) The stars AND PLANETS are POINTS in the night sky. The sky is blue, AND the Earth is blue. THE EARTH/ground AND THE SUN are E=mc2 AND F=ma IN BALANCE, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS UNIVERSALLY PROVEN TO BE GRAVITY in what is a mathematically unified fashion. E=mc2 IS F=ma. The middle distance in/of/AS SPACE AND the full distance in/of/AS SPACE are NECESSARILY linked AND balanced. MAGNIFICENT !!!!!!!!!! INSTANTANEITY IS thus FUNDAMENTAL to what is the FULL and proper UNDERSTANDING of physics/physical experience, AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. It is ALL CLEARLY proven. Again, the stars AND PLANETS are POINTS in the night sky. GREAT. Energy has/involves GRAVITY, AND ENERGY has/involves inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE. GRAVITATIONAL force/ENERGY IS proportional to (or BALANCED with/as) inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravity/acceleration involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS E=mc2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. It is all CLEARLY proven !!!!!!!! TIME is NECESSARILY possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE, AS E=MC2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. GREAT !!!!!!!! BALANCE and completeness go hand in hand. By Frank DiMeglio

  • @TectonicBadger
    @TectonicBadger Před 3 lety

    I love this chill-ass scientist so much

  • @justiceitself
    @justiceitself Před 2 lety +1

    This is just amazing, thank you sooo much!

  • @danparish1344
    @danparish1344 Před 5 lety +886

    Don't you just love hearing smart people talk who are experts in the field?

    • @stevie7000yt
      @stevie7000yt Před 5 lety +80

      Yeah, but also in cafes, classrooms, around kitchen tables, anywhere really. Doesn't have to be outdoors.

    • @OfMiceAndMegabytes
      @OfMiceAndMegabytes Před 5 lety +3

      Yes, yes and yes!

    • @pvtmill3rr
      @pvtmill3rr Před 5 lety +6

      gravity doesn't exist
      czcams.com/video/_HaLr9lztAI/video.html
      czcams.com/video/uf-AkLoYS3A/video.html

    • @jaytan531
      @jaytan531 Před 5 lety +9

      pvtmiller you do know density doesn’t dictate which direction the objects move right? And the fact that we’re moving downwards already proves gravity...

    • @smilernok
      @smilernok Před 5 lety

      but where do you find videos , this is not one of them

  • @MN-sc9qs
    @MN-sc9qs Před 6 lety +136

    The host asks great questions and the professor answers very well.

    • @dontomaso11
      @dontomaso11 Před 5 lety +3

      did they really or are u just racist maybe?

    • @panimbryk
      @panimbryk Před 5 lety +15

      dontomaso11 are you kidding?

    • @WanderTheNomad
      @WanderTheNomad Před 5 lety +5

      @@panimbryk I don't know if he's joking, but I think it's safe to say you don't need to take them seriously.

    • @sterlincharles8357
      @sterlincharles8357 Před 5 lety

      Marc, I agree with you. Very well explained. Lol especially if I could somewhat understand it.

    • @wingwang4342
      @wingwang4342 Před 5 lety +1

      I agree with Marc as well, I might be a little racist. Lol

  • @theexodeus
    @theexodeus Před 2 lety

    Very much agree with your sentiment at 8:11, absolutely fantastic that we’re peeling back reality beyond what should even be possible it’s crazy.

  • @FafliXx
    @FafliXx Před rokem +3

    To me it's even more impressive that we even knew to look for them.

  • @pantherowow77
    @pantherowow77 Před 3 lety +600

    3:39 best nerd bromance moment ever.

  • @B3Band
    @B3Band Před 7 lety +211

    What do you call a Fleshlight in Japan?
    6:38

  • @aaronandannelogan
    @aaronandannelogan Před 2 lety

    The amount of precision involved here makes JWST look like child's play. Absolutely amazing.

  • @crustyoldfart
    @crustyoldfart Před 2 lety +2

    An Egyptian colleague of mine, many years ago used to recount apocryphal stories of the [ presumably mythical ] character Jo-Hah. In this particular story Jo-Hah has just been awarded a contract by the Caliph to teach a donkey to sing. If he fails he will be beheaded, if he succeeds he will be world-famous. His friends are appalled. One asks how much time do you have ? Answer 25 years. Jo-Hah explains : in that space of time many things could happen - the Caliph might die, the donkey might die ..... etc

  • @MauveAvenger7889
    @MauveAvenger7889 Před 4 lety +1653

    A megawatt won't even rip your head off, it will just vaporise.
    So why are we bothering to wear these glasses?
    Because they look badass, that's why

    • @darklion13
      @darklion13 Před 4 lety +49

      A direct contact will vaporise you, which isn't always the case

    • @cheemomugdoo6001
      @cheemomugdoo6001 Před 4 lety +14

      The glasses do nothing!

    • @grenzviel4480
      @grenzviel4480 Před 3 lety +151

      @@cheemomugdoo6001 I didn't want to be that guy, but actually, there is a chance that a small reflection of the laser could leak somewhere and hit your eyes. Such light would blind you instantly even if you can't actually see it.

    • @davemerit6433
      @davemerit6433 Před 3 lety +29

      Sometimes your water tap accidentally gets a tiny leak. Its like a seat-belt for your eyes.

    • @intrepidmixedmedia7939
      @intrepidmixedmedia7939 Před 3 lety +5

      ITs oNLy a MoDEl!

  • @WeeWeeJumbo
    @WeeWeeJumbo Před 7 lety +184

    Prof Adhikari reminds me of all the best teachers and professors I ever had

  • @MAX-Breakdown
    @MAX-Breakdown Před 3 lety

    This ist the most chilled guy I've ever seen.

  • @RiDankulous
    @RiDankulous Před rokem +2

    I think something very important to acknowledge during explanation is that these gravitational waves are tiny *at this distance from the source*. They were not tiny near the source. They were huge at the source.

  • @TheHolosim
    @TheHolosim Před 5 lety +61

    Thank you, Professor Adhikari, for finally answering this question that has been bugging me since high school. "What does a gravitational wave sound like?" It's now the ring-tone on my work cell. (6:12)

  • @MilesUmbrae
    @MilesUmbrae Před 7 lety +87

    He's right; it's not alien civilization level of technology...
    ..it is just as simple as refining and perfecting technology we already have.

    • @kingjamestres
      @kingjamestres Před 7 lety +1

      We didn't have this technology previously you weren't listening the professor said 20 years ago he would have thought this impossible. Its thoughts like yours that constantly limit scientific discovery.

    • @Architector_4
      @Architector_4 Před 7 lety

      +james d
      I dunno, maybe "eh, it's simple, lets just build that real quick" approach is a good thing, really...

    • @Outwardpd
      @Outwardpd Před 7 lety +8

      It is impossible to attain 'alien civilization level of technology' as the moment we would ever reach such an instance people are immediately thinking 'oh the aliens might have something better', 'Oh you've learned how to reach 10% the speed of light? Aliens can go 99% of it', 'Oh you've reached light speed? Aliens have learned to manipulate wormholes', 'Oh you've learned how to manipulate wormholes? Aliens have learned how to create them'. It it is a never ending chase, today's technology is alien technology to people 100 years ago and the tech we'll have in 100 years would be alien tech to us.

    • @beaconrider
      @beaconrider Před 7 lety +2

      And since we have never had contact with an alien race, wouldn't it be a trifle presumptive to discuss their scientific prowess?

    • @Outwardpd
      @Outwardpd Před 7 lety +4

      beaconrider
      Alien technology isn't a reality it is a concept.

  • @darknez09240
    @darknez09240 Před měsícem

    this is crazy, the extreme of extreme conditions to even be able to detect the wave,respect to all the scientist that are doing experiments similar or related to LIGO

  • @KipIngram
    @KipIngram Před 2 měsíci

    I LOVE what a straight face he kept when he told you the laser would just leave your neck a smoking stump. 🙂

  • @Gruggo
    @Gruggo Před 7 lety +38

    This guys is so bad ass, that he doesn't even have to iron his shirt.

    • @Xakslied
      @Xakslied Před 7 lety

      Grugg people still use irons? What is this? 19-fuckin-55

    • @Gruggo
      @Gruggo Před 7 lety

      evidently not ;)

  • @jackwright2495
    @jackwright2495 Před 7 lety +157

    The physics here is straightforward and non-controversial; it's the astounding level of technical expertise required to actually make this measurement that blows my mind!

    • @johnjameson6751
      @johnjameson6751 Před 7 lety +10

      I kinda disagree with the first part. As Veritasium points out, naively the detector's should not work because the gravitational wave stretches both the light beam and the arms (how can you measure something stretch with a ruler that also stretches?). So this explanation, which is the one almost universally presented, is wrong. Rana Adhikari comes closer to a plausible explanation by suggesting the fact that the light is moving makes the difference. However, as the curvature of spacetime, gravity is more like acceleration (which is why objects are weightless in free fall), so a full explanation is more subtle still. The best science paper I have seen on this is "Gauge invariance and the detection of gravitational radiation" by David Garfinkle, but it requires some knowledge of general relativity (and the underlying mathematics) to understand it completely.

    • @Kalumbatsch
      @Kalumbatsch Před 7 lety +6

      That's why you have to go beyond the woolly prose and analyze it quantitatively. There is no way around the mathematics.

    • @JesusIsaFlatEarther
      @JesusIsaFlatEarther Před 7 lety +1

      Jack, you seem like a smart guy, so I have a question for you. What would you call the study of how water reacts? The physics of water? And if an ancient water level shows water isn't affected by gravity over any terrain or distance. And always shows flat and level. How has science shown that the surface of water could bend around a sphere to form our oceans? To the best of my knowledge, water must be contained to pool. Thanks

    • @jackwright2495
      @jackwright2495 Před 7 lety +9

      Water reacts to the bending of space by gravity like everything else: it only appears flat over short distances, but if you look at a globe it's obvious that the oceans are not flat at all, as they follow the net gravitational attraction to the earth's center along with everything else, including us - unless you think that Australians feel like they're upside-down all the time!

    • @alexlyster3459
      @alexlyster3459 Před 7 lety +6

      a) the study of how water reacts would come under chemisty, what I think you meant to say is the study of how water flows or moves etc... and that would be fluid dynamics. b) water is indeed effected by gravity, and so as Jack said, over short distances (and even over large distances relative to every day human scale) this appears to make water and other fluids form a flat surface. However gravity can only be considered a linear uniform field on these small scales, and once you get to larger scales you need to re-evalute how gravity works, because if you don't you would indeed see water (and people and buildings) falling "down" off of the planet. In reality the Earths gravitational field at any point doesn't pull you or water "down" as down is just a frame of reference. Instead the gravitational fields pull you towards the centre of the Earth. By which logic, when you consider large bodies of water, such as the Pacific, which bend around the curvature of the Earth you can't consider gravity to be working on the entire ocean in one direction, but working on it individually at each point to pull it towards the centre. That said, in a way the water is still filling up a "pool" as you put it, but instead of the surface having to be flat, the surface is at a "level of equal potential". It's easier to explain with diagrams really.

  • @antoniomaglione4101
    @antoniomaglione4101 Před 3 lety

    Truly great explanation, Thanks!

  • @ethervagabond
    @ethervagabond Před 2 lety +2

    "Now here's something most people don't think about, which is that gravitational waves stretch space-time."
    That's an understatement if I ever heard one. Most people don't even think about gravitational waves OR space-time at all.

  • @JuuRokuChan
    @JuuRokuChan Před 3 lety +57

    I used to live in Louisiana, and im so glad my physics teacher in high school made a visit to LIGO Livingston a 50 point extra credit project. It wa really cool to be able to visit a place that made this kind of measurement.

    • @tpm2637
      @tpm2637 Před 2 lety +2

      I live in Livingston. I was supposed to go on a field trip years ago, but it got canceled. Sad I never got to go.

    • @JuuRokuChan
      @JuuRokuChan Před 2 lety +2

      @@tpm2637 rip ;_;

  • @johnpaul.hello.
    @johnpaul.hello. Před 5 lety +100

    All I heard was, " ...we have lasers... they will vaporize your head off..."

  • @desklamp8591
    @desklamp8591 Před rokem +2

    “a megawatt will vaporize your head”
    props to the guy who tested that 🙏

  • @xj4m35x2
    @xj4m35x2 Před rokem

    This was my favorite veritasium.

  • @TheOnlyToblin
    @TheOnlyToblin Před 7 lety +122

    That is a lot of money to throw at a theory. Impressive!

    • @DerFrischkopf
      @DerFrischkopf Před 7 lety +13

      Totally Legit Gaming [TLEG] Thats science...

    • @BigRalphSmith
      @BigRalphSmith Před 7 lety +55

      Which definition of the word "theory" are you using in your comment?

    • @CarrotSurvivor
      @CarrotSurvivor Před 7 lety +25

      Totally Legit Gaming [TLEG] just so you know... there's something called germ theory .. it dates that diseases are spread by contact between humans where bacteria is passed around spreading disease ... but hey.. it's just sucking theory

    • @DerFrischkopf
      @DerFrischkopf Před 7 lety +26

      Carrot Survivor Also theres a "theory of gravitation" which states that things tend to fall to the ground. pretty weird, huh?

    • @Dream0Asylum
      @Dream0Asylum Před 7 lety +11

      Scientific theories are operating models that allow exceedingly accurate predictions of perceptible existence. We've been throwing money at this theory every time we've employed it - like in the construction of the vast GPS network.
      No, this is actually better than that. We threw a ton of money at FALSIFYING a theory we've come to rely on to operate our modern world.
      That's what's amazing about science. Illustrating what you took for granted yesterday, that's the foundation of all you know about any given phenomena, is false is your first duty. If every other human endeavor were so concerned with integrity and objectivity how much better off we'd be.

  • @jefferynelson
    @jefferynelson Před 5 lety +162

    I'm a blue collar type. There must have been extremely skilled construction workers involved in building this. Glad this is happening in my lifetime.

    • @BuhnanaFone
      @BuhnanaFone Před 4 lety +25

      Usually these are assembled by engineers. The construction workers may have been involved in building the actual stretch of building with wiring. The actual pipe that has all the ingenuity requires precise measurements only engineers can build

    • @Lexender
      @Lexender Před 4 lety +13

      Like spacecraft (space ships, drones, etc) theres engineers who specialice in working with these massive structures that despite being kilometers Long have to be made with nanometric precision

    • @Videot99
      @Videot99 Před 4 lety +1

      @Dr Deuteron One thing that has me scratching my head a bit is that at 2.5 miles long the curvature of the earth will cause a drop of something over 40 inches. How do they get the laser beam to bend around that? Or is the tube elevated as it goes?

    • @semperfipar1299
      @semperfipar1299 Před 3 lety +1

      @@Videot99 It should have you scratching your head because it is theory(blackholes) piled on top of theory(two blackholes) piled on top of theory(two blackholes colliding) and this place is measuring the theory. What he has really created is a scientific BS meter.

    • @Darfaultner
      @Darfaultner Před 3 lety +4

      @@semperfipar1299 You might want to go and check the difference between a hypothesis and a theory and stop embarrassing yourself.

  • @ydong7384
    @ydong7384 Před 2 lety

    Really like your video! Very interesting and trigger people to think. This is the essence of the scientific tutorial and

  • @jerryoconnor9133
    @jerryoconnor9133 Před 3 lety +4

    Can't wait to look back at this engineering in 20-30 years and see where we've gone