Scientists have “heard” a chorus of gravitational waves rippling through the universe, in what they say is an unprecedented finding that could fundamentally change our understanding of the universe. The discovery, described in a range of newly published journal papers, suggests that spacetime is being rocked by intensely powerful gravitational waves all the time. Those waves carry a million times more energy than the one-off bursts of gravitational waves that were detected from a black hole and were themselves hailed as a major breakthrough in our understanding of the universe. The new results suggest that everything is being slowly shrunk and expanded by a new kind of gravitational wave as they pass through our galaxy. Scientists describe it as being akin to hearing a “symphony” of waves echoing through the universe. “It’s like a choir, with all these supermassive black hole pairs chiming in at different frequencies,” said Chiara Mingarelli, a scientist who worked on the new findings while an associate research scientist at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics. “This is the first-ever evidence for the gravitational wave background. We’ve opened a new window of observation on the universe.” The new findings have been described in a range of journal articles, published in different academic journals. The research is the result of 25 years of observations from six of the world’s most sensitive radio telescopes, and have been simultaneously published by different collaborations across the world. The findings are not only notable in themselves. They also offer the opportunity to find out some of the universe’s secrets, since they can be used to find information about the binary black holes that form when galaxies merge, for instance. “These results signify the beginning of an exciting journey into the Universe, where we aim to unravel its mysteries,” Michael Keith, a lecturer at Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, UK, and contributor to one of the new studies, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. “After decades of tireless work by hundreds of astronomers and physicists worldwide, we are finally detecting the long-awaited signature of gravitational waves originating from the distant Universe.” Scientists made the discovery by analysing observations of pulsars, which are extinguished stars that can be used as reliable clocks in the distant universe. By bringing together such a large amount of detailed data, researchers were able to measure those pulsars with very high accuracy, allowing them to measure gravitational waves at a far larger scale than using detectors on Earth. “Pulsars are excellent natural clocks. We exploit the remarkable regularity of their signals to detect subtle changes in their rhythm, enabling us to perceive the minute stretching and squeezing of space-time caused by gravitational waves originating from the far reaches of the Universe,” said David Champion, a senior scientist at the MPIfR in Bonn, Germany, and contributor to the study, in a statement. For now, researchers are only able to “hear” the vast choir, rather than the individual pulsars that make up its singers. But together they are much louder than expected, meaning that there may be more or more heavy supermassive black holes to be found in the universe. Read More Astronomers find zombie planet that ‘shouldn’t exist’ Nasa to begin Moon mining within next decade Nasa rover spots bizarre donut shaped rock on Mars

'The Crowded Room' Episode 2 explores the budding friendship between Danny and Ariana and reveals the dark side of Ariana’s life

Clarkson's Farm star Kaleb Cooper is delighting fans with a new video of a trip to London - where he got to see a revolving door for the first time ever. The farmer, who admits to never leaving Chipping Norton, is overjoyed as he spins through what appears to be a hotel door, as Jeremy Clarkson mocks him. "It's amazing!", he shouts. Clarkson, however, doesn't seem as impressed, adding: "He's never seen a revolving door". Click here to sign up for our newsletters

The song 'I Remember Everything' is about a couple who looks at their relationship from different perspectives and tragically falls out of love

FIFA on Wednesday announced it had struck a deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to televise the 2023 Women's World Cup, avoiding a controversial blackout...

Taylor Swift fans have told billionaire Musk exactly where to go after the X/Twitter CEO told her what to do with her music. In a social media post, the global superstar singer revealed more information about her upcoming album and finally gave fans the answers to the names of the tracks that will be appearing on it. The new album, titled 1989 (Taylor’s Version), is a re-record of her fifth studio album, which will also feature five unheard “vault” songs that will be completely new to her listeners. After having fans on a wild goose chase all day, she revealed: “It’s a new soundtrack. Here are the back covers and vault track titles for 1989 (my version) I can’t wait for this one to be out, seriously. “Thank you for playing along, sleuthing, puzzling and making these reveals so much chaotic fun (which is the best kind of fun, after all).” In the replies, Musk gave Swift some unsolicited advice that appears to have rubbed the Swifties up the wrong way. He wrote: “I recommend posting some music or concert videos directly on the X platform.” One fan told Musk exactly what they thought of that, writing: “GET A JOB STAY AWAY FROM HER FRE*K.” Another person mocked: “Great point. If she posted some videos of her singing she could become a millionaire in no time from the ad revenue.” “No one asked, babe,” said someone else. One Swiftie argued: “She's so powerful she has a literal billionaire looking for clout from her.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Uma Thurman said, 'I was quite troubled by it. I found it quite unkind. There would be photographs taken, and there was a wall of shame'

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Taylor Swift waited around five seconds for a hidden platform on the floor to open and drop her to the backstage area

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The theremin—a spooky instrument that scored the biggest sci-fi films of the 1950s—was invented by accident.

The Beatles have broken a string of records as they reached the top spot with their single 'Now and Then' on Friday, more than 50 years after their last chart entry.