Natalia Korsakova

A huge pond, with ripples spreading from two heavy stones circling each other. The stones draw closer, the ripples become more frequent and stronger, and soon the stones will collide. Gravitational waves are like those ripples, but not on water — in the very fabric of spacetime.

The Universe is not silent: it is filled with a continuous gravitational-wave hum. In a decade, the LISA space observatory will tune its "ears" to the millihertz range, and the richest source will be our Galaxy — tens of thousands of white dwarf pairs whirling in a frantic dance.