Albert Einstein Institute's scientist terms gravitational waves detection as most important scientific discovery of 2015

Bruce Allen, managing director of Albert Einstein Institute Hannover and one of the scientists who discovered the gravitational waves last year, attended the IIT-Bombay’s three-day annual TechFest, which kicked off on Friday.

Allen described the breakthrough of detecting the gravitational waves as "the most important scientific discovery of last year".

Scientists who are tracking the development of a gravitational wave detecting observatory in India said that it will be the most sensitive station. This observatory is the fifth such one in the world. Hingoli district’s Aundh is among the preferred sites for this project.

Albert Einstein had predicted the gravitational waves a century ago and they were detected in Germany last year. The gravitational waves along with electromagnetic waves responsible for wireless communication, and mechanical waves, which carry sound hold the cue to the universe.

Allen said that the Laser Inferometer Gravitational-waves Observatory (LIGO) India, observatories in Germany, the United States and Italy, will help detect cosmic gravitational waves. This will further help in discovering the aspects of the space which remains a big mystery.

"The need for an Indian LIGO is well justified. Each observatory is different and uses a different technology. We will put to rest the mistakes of US detectors while designing LIGO India. The country's unique location will help detect the sources of gravitational sources more accurately," said Rana Adhikari, a professor from California Institute of Technology, who is involved in the development of LIGO India.

Earlier, Jeff Demain, CEO Hantheon, talk about the architecture being designed to colonise Mars.

Compared to last year, first day of the IIT-Bombay TechFest witnessed a lower turnout compared to last year. Organisers said around 35,000 people visited the campus on Friday against the 45,000 on day one last year.