Well 'hearing' them is not strictly correct, it is just that that is the closest word that sorta', kinda' fits.
What we are apparently sensing is ripples traveling through space- time. And of course by 'we' I mean the smart people who are working on this project, as well as simpletons like me trying to follow along and claim some of the thunder 'cause it was distant relatives who actually used the theory and did the work (hey- we are all 'cousins' no matter which view you want to take, Intelligent Design or Evolution, right? Yes it is a vacuum but space- time is something in and of itself even though it is 'empty'. So there are no ripples in anything tangible, but the vehicle itself (space- time, or 'reality') is rippling just as water does when a stone is thrown into a still pond.
The two really important aspects to this, at least as far as I can follow along, is that it again proves yet another facet of the original theory of relativity, and it also provides the means to move through space- time in a non- linear way, opening the door to compressed travel (compressing or folding space so that traveling 1 mile in a straight line moves one, say, 100 miles between two points) and also time travel. Combine the two and it may be possible to travel what appear in our reality to be great distances by moving a small distance and possibly, in less time than.... well, than the time it actually took.
Brian
Weren't we always taught space is avacuum and sound doesn't travel in a vacuum?
No house appliance jokes...I know, that sucks.
