A clear and interesting newpaper summary of gravitational wave research

In my e-mailbox this morning was a pointer to an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, a newspaper that also often publishes some of my book reviews.

Since some Science Blog threads have discussed gravitational waves in somewhat arcane terms, I thought this would be a useful piece about the issues.

It includes a description of what gravitational waves are theorized to be, why they are so difficult to detect, new instruments planned to improve the likelihood of detection, and the role of a group of Milwaukee researchers in the process.

There is a nice diagram of the detector, too.

In short, I think that gravitational waves are not so weighty a topic as to be beyond the grasp of most Science Blog readers.

In fact, the article makes me wish I had included the topic in my history of 20th century physics for high-school age and up.