Discovery of gravitational waves wins Nobel Prize

U.S.-based trio say findings will help understand universe

STOCKHOLM— Three U.S.-based scientists won the Nobel Physics Prize on Tuesday for detecting faint ripples flying through the universe — the gravitational waves predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein that provide a new understanding of the universe.

Rainer Weiss, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Barry Barish and Kip Thorne, of the California Institute of Technology, won the 2017 prize for a combination of highly advanced theory and ingenious equipment design, Sweden’s Royal Academy of Sciences announced.

The scientists were key to the first observation of gravitational waves in September 2015. When the discovery was announced several months later, it was a sensation not only among scientists but the general public.

“It’s a win for the human race as a whole. These gravitational waves will be powerful ways for the human race to explore the universe,” said Thorne, speaking by phone with The Associated Press from California.

“I view this more as a thing that recognizes the work of a thousand people,” Weiss told reporters at the announcement news conference.

The prize is “a win for Einstein, and a very big one,” Barish told The Associated Press. The German-born Weiss was awarded half of the $1.1-million prize amount and Thorne and Barish will split the other half.

Gravitational waves are extremely faint ripples in the fabric of space and time, generated by some of the most violent events in the universe. The waves detected by the laureates came from the collision of two black holes some 1.3 billion light-years away.