Neutron Star Breakthrough Explains the Universe's Gold, Platinum, and Uranium

This discovery finally points to the source of Earth's precious heavy elements, also proves Einstein correct in more ways than one. 

Artist's impression of two neutron stars colliding. Credit: Dana Berry, SkyWorks Digital

Last September, scientists at a special observatory announced that they detected a gravitational wave for the first time. The detection took place in September, 2015, but wasn’t announced until last year. The observatory is known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). It registered ripples in space-time formed from the collision of two black holes. Apparently, the fabric of the universe ripples just as water does.

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neutron star collision merger supernova gamma rays LIGO gravitational waves Einstein space-time