Cosmic Speed and the Time of Science

In February 2016, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory project (LIGO) recorded something astonishing: evidence of a gravitational wave produced in the final fraction of a second of the merger of two black holes. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of such waves in 1915. When the U.S. National Science Foundation first funded LIGO in 1992, it was the most expensive project the NSF had ever backed. Like Einstein, the NSF’s foresight was confirmed. Come listen to a conversation between LIGO physicist Nergis Mavalvala and Walter Massey, former NSF director and chancellor of the School of the Art Institute Chicago, about cosmic speed and human patience.