Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant 'blackholes' billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?
- (a) 'Higgs boson particles' were detected.
- (b) 'Gravitational waves' were detected. ✓ UPSC's answer
- (c) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through 'wormhole' was confirmed.
- (d) It enabled the scientists to understand 'singularity'.
Why the answer is (b)
• On 14 September 2015 the LIGO detectors recorded ripples in spacetime from two black holes (29 and 36 solar masses) merging 1.3 billion light-years away — the first direct detection of gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein in 1916 — option (b).
• The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics went to Weiss, Barish and Thorne for this; India is building LIGO-India at Hingoli, Maharashtra.
• The Higgs boson (a) was found at the LHC in 2012; wormholes (c) remain hypothetical; singularities (d) are not directly observed.
• Hence option (b).
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) 'Higgs boson particles' were detected.
- The Higgs boson was detected at CERN in 2012, unrelated to this.
- (c) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through 'wormhole' was confirmed.
- Wormhole travel remains hypothetical.
- (d) It enabled the scientists to understand 'singularity'.
- Singularities are not observed directly.
Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2019, held on 2 June 2019. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.