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LIGO detects most massive black hole merger to date

(www.caltech.edu)
360 points Eduard | 1 comments | 14 Jul 25 20:06 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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phtrivier ◴[15 Jul 25 16:14 UTC] No.44572695[source]▶
I'm in dire need of good news, so help me see it in an optimistic lens: can you imagine a path (even very indirect) where this kind of discovery ends up having a practical use that makes real life better here on Earth ?

(I'm not in the age-old debate about "is research useful ?" - I agree the answer is yes ; I just have a failure of imagination that prevents me from answer the question "how is this research going to be useful in the long run ?")

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1. abdullahkhalids ◴[15 Jul 25 17:29 UTC] No.44573683[source]▶
Most rich civilization, to show off how great they are, have built monuments. Basically saying, look we are so rich we can redirect a big part of our society's productivity to building a magnificent piece of art. Notice, how the ancient Egyptians are remembered thousands of years later.

You should think of some research in similar ways. This is us saying, look how rich and powerful we are, we can devote a significant part of our society's productivity on discovering the very essence of this universe with no practical benefit to us. Detecting blackhole mergers is an intellectual monument.