Wednesday, April 19, 2006

massive beauty

Simulations Take Us Inside The Mind Of Einstein

"For years scientists trying to visualize the concept of gravitational waves churned by the collision of black holes have relied largely on artists' conceptions. Now, at long last, they have Einstein's conception.



"According to Einstein, when two massive black holes merge, all of space jiggles like a bowl of Jell-O as gravitational waves race out from the collision at light speed. This is a mind-boggling notion, to be sure.

"NASA scientists have reached a breakthrough in computer modeling that allows them to simulate what gravitational waves from merging black holes look like. The three-dimensional simulations are a manifestation of Einstein's equations, pure and simple. And they are the largest astrophysical calculations ever performed on a NASA supercomputer."

Read more: Simulations Take Us Inside The Mind Of Einstein

Watch the clip: NASA video clip of two black holes merging..

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'd like to suggest you read Temple Grandin's book, "Thinking In Pictures", where she speculates on the possibility that Einstein may have had a form of autism. Fun late night reading.