jtotheizzoe:

NASA Announces Results of Epic Space-Time Experiment

Einstein was right, it turns out. Spacetime is curved. The results of the long-running Gravity Probe B experiment have been released today, and Einstein’s theory of gravity falls in line precisely with its measurements.

Measuring this effect was likened to measuring the “thickness of a sheet of paper held edge-on 100 miles away.” It required gyroscopes made of the most perfect spheres mankind has ever constructed, only differing by 40 atomic layers on their surface. Combine that with a satellite that was designed to avoid drag with Earth’s outer atmosphere and five years of data analysis … and there you have it. The implications for astrophysics are huge … and very complicated, as reading this article has shown me 🙂