Trump's proposed cut to giant physics

特朗普对大型物理实验的拟议削减可能会扼杀一种新形式的天文学

Degrading LIGO's observations of gravitational waves would amount to "killing a newborn baby," one astrophysicist says

一位天体物理学家称,削弱LIGO的引力波观测相当于"扼杀一个新生婴儿"

By Adrian Cho

作者:Adrian Cho

10 Jun 2025 5:35 PM ET

2025年6月10日下午5:35(美国东部时间)

Just 10 years ago, 900 scientists working with two of the biggest and most sensitive scientific devices ever built made a discovery that opened new eyes on the universe. The twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) spotted ripples in space itself set off when two massive black holes 1.3 billion light-years away spiraled into each other. For the first time, humans had detected an astrophysical object with something besides electromagnetic radiation. It was a dramatic demonstration of general relativity, Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, and it marked the birth of a new field, gravitational wave astronomy.

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