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| Gravitational waves travel through space and time much like ripples on the surface of water. (Courtesy: iStock/mic27) |
I've used "table-top" for several postings before. I think science needs to come up with a less-cliche descriptor.
A coin-sized detector might observe gravitational waves before the giant LIGO interferometers, according to two Australian physicists who have built the device. The detector is designed to register very high frequency gravitational waves via the exceptionally weak vibrations they would induce. Other scientists caution that the astrophysical objects thought to emit such radiation may do so very weakly or might not actually exist.
Predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity but yet to be directly observed, gravitational waves are ripples in space–time generated by accelerating massive objects. The tiny detector has been made by Maxim Goryachev and Michael Tobar of the University of Western Australia in Perth and is based on the decades-old technology of resonant-mass detection.
Physics arXiv:
Gravitational Wave Detection with High Frequency Phonon Trapping Acoustic Cavities
Maxim Goryachev, Michael E. Tobar
Physics World: Tabletop experiment could detect gravitational waves
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