Gravitational waves: new frontiers in scientific knowledge

The sky might have turned a weird shade of sepia across much of the UK today, but the universe has shaken for reasons far more profound. Scientists have discovered that a cataclysmic collision between two neuron stars long, long ago created debris which we now know as gold. The announcement, which comes with the rather prosaic name of Gravitational Wave Signal GW170817, is just the first of a series which will set new frontiers in scientific knowledge.