re: LIGO in Livingston Parish - gravitational waves

LIGO is one of only two facilities of its kind in the US. So yeah, usually any time they make any headway in the detection of gravity waves its a pretty big deal. Proof of general relativity and whatnot.

Just one little snippet:

"This is an immensely delicate experiment: the effect being sought is so tiny that it "shakes" the mirrors through a distance less than a millionth of the size of a single atom. This is why it’s been crucial to have two similar detectors separated by nearly 2,000 miles - one in Washington State, the other in Louisiana - and to seek events that show up in both detectors, thereby ruling out effects caused by local seismic events, passing trucks, and so forth."