What are gravitational waves, first predicted by Albert Einstein? How were they detected, corroborating Einstein's Theory of General Relativity?
These concepts may appear difficult for children to understand, but physicist Barry C Barish, who won the Nobel Prize in 2017, has written an article for young readers.
Barish's article, 'Gravitational Waves — a new window on the Universe', is one in a series of articles published in the journal Frontiers for Young Minds.
Called the Nobel Collection, the series includes articles by various Nobel Prize winners explaining scientific concepts for young readers.
Barish's article is part of the second Nobel Collection, which was launched this week. The first Nobel Collection was launched in September last year.
Other articles in the series
Among other articles in the series is 'AIDS: facts, fiction, and future', written by Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The scientist explains how HIV works in stages to become AIDS, and why it is necessary to break social stigmas around HIV/AIDS.
The winner of this year's Economics Prize, Daniel Kahneman, has written an article entitled 'Human riddles in behavioural economics'. This analyses the behaviour of people in uncertain situations, such as gambling, and goes on to discuss behavioural economics.
In the article 'Distant planets and big promises: how to detect exoplanets and whether they have life', physicist Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize winner in 2019, writes about how experts search for planets outside our Solar System.
Bert Sakmann, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1991, has written the article 'Sparks in the brain: the story of ion channels and nerve cells'. This article explains the fascinating ways in which the body's cells communicate with one another so that they can work in a coordinated way.
The articles are open to everyone
The five articles have been written for people aged between 8 and 15. To ensure that children can understand them and find them fun and engaging, the articles have been reviewed by children themselves.
The articles are freely available to readers anywhere in the world. They can be read at this link.
The series of articles by Nobel Laureates will continue into next year, Frontiers for Young Minds said in a press release.