When Black Holes Collide, with Nergis Mavalvala

How do we detect ripples in spacetime? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Harrison Greenbaum explore black hole collisions, quantum tricks, and how gravitational waves can help us uncover the early universe with MIT physicist and LIGO researcher Nergis Mavalvala. What are gravitational waves, and how do they stretch and squeeze spacetime? We break down Hawking radiation and why gravity itself doesn’t get sucked into a black hole. How did Einstein predict them, and why did it take a century to confirm their existence? Nergis breaks down how LIGO can measure distortions smaller than a proton. How do scientists bypass and manipulate quantum uncertainty to measure gravitational waves? We go over Einstein’s general relativity and what cosmic phenomena it predicted. We dive into the violent collisions of black holes—what happens when objects moving at half the speed of light crash together? Learn how LIGO works and how lasers help us to make these minuscule measurements. Could gravitational waves let us see into the universe’s earliest moments before the cosmic microwave background? Finally, how does every great scientific discovery build on those that came before? What technological advancements might come from gravitational wave research? And most importantly—why does this all matter for our understanding of the universe? Thanks to our Patrons Akhilesh Kashyap, George Woods, Alishan Momin, Scott Artyn, Terrance Wallace, justinetaylor1989, David Kupersmith, Asef Karim, Robert Somazze, Micheal Emmer, Jeffrey Cooper, Bigyan Bhar, Gavin TRaber, A Bains, josh burrell, Darius Cruz, Cassandre L Henderson, Liam Higley, Ojakuna, Karen, Anshul Sanghi, Sam Walley, David Eatwell, Psychotacon, Alec Myers, Alfred Rivera, Colby Carmichiel, Tommy, kim kanahele, Robert Breutzmann, Dan Defibaugh, Slyter, Aksheev Bhambri, Chris Topher, Joanna Apergis, Rockington, Patrick Corrigan, AlexKP_, Abi ROdriguez, Shawn Santor, Shanna Johnston, Cleve Dawson, Mohammed Bilal Monnoo, Patrick Laurin, Eric Kaplan, Dr. What, Glen S. Sheets, David Yardley, Librak Productions LLC, and Catherine Thomas for supporting us this week. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: Nergis Mavalvala 06:10 - What Does “A Ripple in Spacetime” Even Mean? 09:25 - How Does Gravity Escape A Black Hole? 12:45 - Einstein vs. Newton's Gravity 16:54 - Colliding Black Holes 20:18 - The LIGO Experiment 26:07 - Detecting Gravitation Waves from the Early Universe 28:25 - The Quantum Loophole Used in LIGO 40:29 - What Discoveries Await Us? 42:42 - A Cosmic Perspective Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus Get the NEW StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PL0NFn Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startalkradio FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk: Twitter: http://twitter.com/startalkradio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startalk About StarTalk: Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson