Gravitational Waves - Einstein's Messengers

One of the most important differences between Newton and Einstein's physics has to do with the nature of space and time. Contrary to Newton, who argued that space and time form an absolute background upon which all physical events take place, Einstein argued that space-time is a dynamic fabric that interacts with and is affected by the mass of objects. Here is a nice and short explanation of the basic difference between the two models, narrated by Brian Greene.

Various experiments have confirmed Einstein's revolutionary view, but there is one major prediction that, at least for the moment, remains theoretical: the existence of gravitational waves. Wouldn't you know it, scientists are hard at work trying to device experiments and instruments capable of potentially detecting these obscure messengers of general relativity, and as you'll see, the precision of these instruments is simply mind-boggling. Welcome to the world of LIGO.

And if you want more on instruments, check out the Large Hadron Collider tag.
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