(NEWS BULLETIN BEEPS)
FN ROBOT: Science News Bulletin. Science News Bulletin.
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TR: We interrupt this program to bring you an important Science News Bulletin.
GK: There was an interesting story about gravitational waves out in space and how it seems to prove Einstein's----
SS (OFF): Wait a minute! I'm in the bathroom! I want to hear this.
GK: Okay. (LONG PAUSE) (TOILET FLUSH) (WATER RUNS) (PAUSE) (DOOR OPEN. FOOTSTEPS)
SS: Okay. What were you saying?
GK: There was an interesting story about gravitational waves out in space and how it seems to prove Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
They could hear the sound of gravitational waves resulting from two black holes colliding and merging into each other 1.3 billion years ago. Physicists had thought of the universe as flat and stable and Einstein said no, it's like a pond that is still and then you drop a rock in it and there are ripples.
SS: Wait a minute.
GK: What?
SS: One point three billion years ago?
GK: Right. Here is one black hole. (SFX) About 150 kilometers across. And here is the other. (SFX) Same size. And they collide and combine (SFX) and it creates this gravitational wave (BLIP) and that's what they heard.
SS: That little blip.
GK: Right.
SS: Where did they detect this?
GK: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory laboratory is in Louisiana.
SS: Was this during Mardi Gras or after?
GK: It was back in September. To spot a signal, LIGO uses a special mirror to split a beam of laser light (SFX) and send the beams down two 4-kilometer-long arms (SFX) at a 90 degree angle to each other and they ricochet back and forth (SFX) and then the laser beams recombine (SFX).
SS: And so what?
GK: And they hear the gravitational ripple. (SFX) And that means that Einstein's Theory of Relativity was correct.
SS: So how does that change anything?
GK: The theory of relativity says that what you think happened is not what another person thinks happened if you are related to each other. Like this.
FN: I told you.
CD: You did not.
FN: I distinctly remember telling you I was going out tonight.
CD: You never did.
FN: I did.
CD: Did not.
GK: Theory of Relativity. It's true.
SS: Okay. I'm out of here. (SFX)
GK: That concludes this ---
FN: (BOT) SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN. SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN.
(NEWS KLAXONS)
GK: We now return to our program in progress.
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