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The journal "Science" just declared the discovery of the gravitational waves as the science breakthrough of the year. A team of scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) made it possible by capturing the moment when two black holes slammed together. This collision created ripples through space time and onwards Earth.

The discovery of the gravitational waves confirms Albert Einstein's century-old theory of relativity. Two LIGO experiments, one in Louisiana and another in Washington state, detected these waves. This subtle rumbling of ripple in space-time is attributed by physicists to the merger of two black holes.

LIGO's detection of Einstein's ripples opened the doors for a whole new branch of science - the gravitational waves astronomy. The first quarter of million years was baffling for astronomers who were in limbo in unveiling the deepest secrets of the cosmos. The LIGO breakthrough will pave the way for studying the birth of the universe or the moment of creation.

For Michael Turner, a professor of astronomy at the University of Chicago, LIGO's revelations about the gravitational waves deepen humans' understanding of the universe. He describes it as a 'Galileo' moment. He believes that Einstein' theory of general relativity passed the last major test.

The LIGO facility was established by the National Science Foundation and is being operated by Caltech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This gravitational wave observatory was considered as a cutting-edge physics experiment. LIGO was created to detect and understand the origins of gravitational waves.

LIGO also houses the world's giant particle accelerators and nuclear physics laboratories. Its other areas of focus are gravitation, relativity, astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and nuclear physics.

More LIGO-like instruments are being built to join the hunt for the cosmos. Japan will soon operate the Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector. Another detector will be added in India in the early 2020s. Italy will operate the upgraded VIRGO detector early next year.

This video chronicles the MIT-Caltech collaboration LIGO Laboratories' detection of gravitational waves after a decades-long quest. Share your thoughts on the article in the comments section.