#213 – Barry Barish: Gravitational Waves and the Most Precise Device Ever Built

Lex Fridman Podcast

Lex Fridman

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science, Technology

4.7 • 13K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2021

⏱️ 150 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Barry Barish is a theoretical physicist at Caltech and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – MUD\WTR: https://mudwtr.com/lex and use code LEX to get 5% off – GiveDirectly: https://givedirectly.org/lex to get gift matched up to $300 – BiOptimizers: http://www.magbreakthrough.com/lex to get 10% off – Four Sigmatic: https://foursigmatic.com/lex and use code LexPod to get up to 60% off – Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get $5 off EPISODE LINKS: Barry’s Nobel Prize entry: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2017/barish/facts/ Barry’s Caltech profile: https://pma.caltech.edu/people/barry-c-barish LIGO’s Website: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/ LIGO’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LIGO PODCAST INFO: Podcast

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following is a conversation with Barry Barish, a theoretical physicist at Caltech and
0:05.6	the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the LIGO detector and
0:11.6	the observation of gravitational waves.
0:14.9	LIGO, or the laser into ferometer gravitational wave observatory, is probably the most precise
0:21.0	measurement device ever built by humans.
0:25.3	He consists of two detectors, with four kilometer long vacuum chambers, situated 3,000 kilometers
0:32.3	apart, operating in unison to measure a motion that is 10,000 times smaller than the width
0:39.5	of a proton.
0:41.4	It is the smallest measurement ever attempted by science, a measurement of gravitational
0:46.4	waves caused by the most violent and cataclysmic events in the universe, occurring over tens of
0:53.3	millions of light years away.
0:56.2	To support this podcast, please check out our sponsors in the description.
1:02.0	As usual, I'll do a few minutes of ads now, no ads in the middle, I try to make these
1:06.6	interesting so hopefully you don't skip, but if you do, please still check out the sponsor
1:11.5	links in the description.
1:13.2	It is the best way to support this podcast.
1:15.7	I use their stuff and enjoy it, maybe you will too.
1:20.8	This show is brought to you by Mudwater, a new sponsor, but I've been actually drinking
1:26.6	their stuff for quite a long time.
1:28.4	It's a coffee alternative with one seventh, the caffeine as a couple coffee and a ton of
1:34.0	ingredients that are good for you, but I drink it because it's delicious.
1:38.5	I use a frothter that comes with it, and then I add a little bit of their mudwater creamer
	...

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